Shangri la
by Castles in the sky
Summary: CHAPTER 15 NOW UP! SORRY ABOUT THE LONG UPDATE! The Titans are shocked at the arrival of a certain relative of Raven's, who needs their help to save a lost soul.. Pairings: BBxRaven, StarxRobin in later chapters. Contains bad langauge and violent scenes.
1. Raven's Brother

Shangri-La 

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Gothic: Well, here goes another ficcie attempt. If you haven't got your nose in a dictionary yet, Shangri-La means 'Earthly Paradise'. I don't know the origin of the word(s). There will be romance! BbxRaven!

My muse, A.K.A = Kitty!: Hi! I'm Kitty, Gothic's computerised muse. I'm one of the Microsoft Office Assistant characters, and for some reason, Gothic took me as her muse. 

 Gothic: I….don't…own…it. It belongs to someone else. I'm as poor as a church mouse.

Kitty: On with the ficcie! Reviews please!

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A woman ran desperately down the deserted streets. Thunder and lightning crashed across the night skies, and heavy rain beat down on the rooftops. The woman stopped, and, turning around, raised a hand to her rain streaked face. A grey hood hid what might have been seen of her face and a cloak similar to that of a royal robe covered the rest of her body. With such a cloak, just about all of her body was hidden from view, minus the arm that protected the exposed face. 

In the distance, a figure came out of the night shadows. Smaller than the woman in size and stature, he looked about 12 or 13 years old. He was also cloaked in a similar fashion, head covered with a hood. He ran through the rain, running as quick as he could, trying to catch up with the woman ahead.

"Come on! Keep up with me! Don't get lost! Come on!" The woman spoke with a slightly accented voice, grabbing the boy's hand, pulling them forward. He ran alongside her as best as he could, stumbling slightly as he went, as the true form of what they were running from loomed out of the shadows.

"You cannot get away." It hissed in a scathing voice. "You will be hunted down and tortured to the death!" Strong ropes of pure darkness shot out, and grabbed the woman around the ankle, waist and wrist. One other was inches from wrapping itself around her neck, but slid away at an order of its master.

"No! Do not kill her! She is needed!" The woman screamed and cried as she was dragged backwards, the boy pulling at the tight ropes. But they could have been steel and there would have been no difference.

"Please! Let me go! At least spare him!" Her cries echoed around the thin alleyway they had run into, the full extent of the force dragging her away released. The boy followed, screaming to the woman, pleading with the powers of darkness to let her go. 

The woman was swallowed by the force, taken away from the one she was sworn to protect. She had failed him. He was left alone in the alleyway, crying for his guardian. Stumbling forward, he met the waters edge after several minutes. Titans Tower was only just visible through the thick mist that had descended.

"Help! Please, somebody help!" He fell to the ground, a brisk wind blowing back his hood. The outline of his boyish features shone through, and the redness of his demon skin gave off a faint tinge in the darkness. 

~+~+~+~+~

Back at Titans Tower, the high tech computers had picked up the demon boy's presence. Hearing his pleas for help, it immediately sent out a signal to all of the Titans. Robin darted into the main room where the details were, and awaited the others arrival. When they dragged themselves in, still sleepy, as it was technically 2.34am in the morning, he barked out his orders.

"Titans! Lets go! There's been a call for help on the other side of the lake, towards the East. Move it, come on!" They gradually shook themselves awake, and prepared to leave.

As the Teen Titans, it was their duty to be on call 24/7. This did tend to make certain members, involving a green skinned changeling, and a red haired alien, very sleepy. The two now took flight, followed by Raven, who seemed slightly drowsy, but on the whole, awake. 

The wind blew violently and ripped through anything loose. Starfire's hair was ruffled all over the place, and even Raven's hood was blown backwards with the wind. They spotted the dark figure struggling, moving ever closer to the waters edge. With the rain beating down, and the violent winds, the demon could not see where he was going, and was dangerously close to falling in and surely drowning.

"Raven Starfire! Quickly, stop him from falling in!" Robin shouted his orders above the dangerous tidal waves that were threatening to roll in and sweep them all into the lake. The demon, which was now aware of the Titans presence, stared up at them, unsure of whether they were here to help him or not. Starfire attempted to get closer to him, in order to pull him away, but she was too light, and the wind swept her back. She ended up in Cyborg's arms, who had rushed forward to catch her. 

"Ahh! Help me please!" The demon, speaking with an unusual accent, was soaked to the skin, and seemingly unable to move, was in danger of being dragged into the lake by an oncoming tidal wave. He tried to crawl away, but the wave fell downwards in a smooth movement and crashed down onto where the demon was – 

two seconds ago, as Raven had darted down and pulled him out of the way in time. He clung to Raven's wet form, her sleek body clearly visible through the equally soaked leotard. She put an arm around him to prevent him slipping, and battled her way back to the drenched shoreline. With her hood blown off, the demon could see Raven's face clearly, and easily noted her focused look as she fought through the wind.

"Who, who are you?" Raven suddenly froze. She nearly fell out of mid air. She knew that voice. _She_ _definitely knew that voice._

"Don't talk now. We'll discuss how we saved your guts later." Raven gripped him tighter, making sure he wouldn't fall.

As they neared the puddles of water where the others were, Cyborg stretched up his arms to catch them, and Raven gladly accepted his guidance. Upon landing, the demon wouldn't let go of Raven, despite several complaints by Raven, and several reassurances that he was safe.

"Come on man! Let go of Raven! I'm pretty sure she isn't happy with you clinging to her." Cyborg persuaded once more. Darkness still reined the skies, and mist clouded the new day. Eventually giving up, Raven pulled her tired body back to the Tower with the demon attached. 

"I think that Raven would much appreciate it, if you could disattach yourself from her please?" Starfire, who had not spoken much due to have a slight concussion from the fall by the shoreline, had at long last managed to walk. They yawned, and sleepily half walked half stumbled back to the Tower, the demon whimpering slightly and clutching at Raven. She had long ago given up trying to get him to remove himself from her.

"Man, I'm beat. Can we please go back to bed now?" Cyborg complained, whilst dying off the visible flesh areas of skin on his body with a towel. 

"We all want to, but we have to work out what to do with the guy we brought back. Besides, we need to work out how we can help him, and why he was there." Robin replied.

The demon was hiding under Raven's cloak, but she had been unable to remove so she could change her clothes. She looked very tired now, and was equally snappy. Eventually, with considerable force, she summoned up her powers and blasted the demon off her. In the struggle, his grey cloak was thrown off his shoulders. He stood there for a minute, as the Titans took in the appearance of him.

"Okay. You're not any relation to Slade by any chance are you?" Beast Boy, still cracking jokes at 4.11am, slid up, and took all of the things about the terrified being. 

"Who..who's Slade?" The demon shivered with slight cold, and scrabbled about on his cloak for an opening. He had red skin, with various black henna type markings about him. His eyes were the same 4 that Trigon, Raven's father had, and a similar gem shimmered on his forehead. His hands were more of those of a cat or dog, than of a human, his feet in a similar fashion. In short, he was almost the same as Raven and Trigon put together. Perhaps the most intriguing, noticeable feature about him however, was the slender, slick looking tail that curled about his body, ending in a sort of crystal shape.

"Whoa! He's, he's a sort of demon guy!?!?" Beast Boy inquiringly studied him.

Raven, who had been excessively rubbing her eyes, and taking sips from the mug of herbal tea she'd got, looked up at that. 

"Of course I'm a demon! Why else would I look like this?!?!"

"Well, you might be a freak like Beast Boy, but other than that, you appear to be from another dimension or something." Cyborg studied the demon, amid shout of complaint from Beast Boy.

"I am NOT a freak!" 

"No, you're not. You're a changeling demon." The demon answered. Everyone stared in his direction, as he finally got his cloak to go on. He pulled the wet cloth around him, his tail slightly poking out. 

"Beast Boy can only change his shape. He isn't a demon." Everyone was surprised at this response from Raven.

 4 inquiring eyes focused on Raven from the demon boy. It was slightly difficult to decide whether he was thinking or musing. Eventually, eyes narrowing in curiosity, he spoke.

"Metrion? I heard you came to Earth. Haven't changed much have you?" Several gasps went up around the room, Star and Beast Boy's eyes goggling out of their heads. The demon looked inquiringly around, whilst Raven merely kept up her deadpan look. After several minutes of uncomfortableness, she replied.

"Well you haven't changed much yourself. Then again, what more was I expecting from my little brother?" Beast Boy fell backwards at this, Star's green eyes opened so wide, you could see the white around the irises. If there had been a pin dropped at that moment, everyone would have heard it. Complete silence settled over the entire tower. 

"He's…he's…your…br…brother?" Beast Boy at last spoke, stumbling over the sentence, as everyone else stared in disbelief.

"Well, he doesn't really….look like you. But…." Robin trailed away from his sentence, unable to say any more.

"Step brother to be exact." The demon got up, focusing a bit more on his surroundings. "And I am here for a reason." He pulled the cloak around him a bit more, still looking nervous.

"Did Dad try to take over a galaxy again? I've told him about doing that." Raven chuckled slightly, admiring the mischievous grin that crept across her brother's face. 

"Um, no, he didn't quite get that far. He's planning on it though." Slightly more relaxed, the demon yawned, revealing huge demonic fangs, and a lizard based tongue. Beast Boy's, Cyborg's, and Robin's mouths completely dropped open at the response Raven was showing. She had laughed. Okay it was a chuckle, yes, but it had been emotion, something they still hadn't adjusted to coming from Raven. Starfire shrank away from the vicious looking fangs that protruded from the demon's mouth, as they reminded her of a vicious creature from her home planet, - that liked to eat Tamaran's for lunch.  

After much confusion over several more hours, they got the demon to settle down on the sofa, under a spare blanket. Raven had declared the question and answer round tomorrow, when she had found some form of sleep. Tired and yawning, they crawled to bed. Before going however, Beast Boy asked the demon one more question, as the others were staggering to their different rooms.

"Hey, demon boy." The demon looked up, a questioning look on his face. The others turned to look at the scene, at Beast Boy's words. "What's your name?" The demon's eyes lit up at this question. The four pupiless eyes then took on a mysterious look, as he answered.

"The name's Draygion."

~+~+~+~+~

Gothic: Well? What did you think? My demon friend's name is pronounced dray-guy-un. (Draygion.) So was there enough tension in there? Sorry I'm asking so many questions, it is good to know other's opinions. No flamers please. 

Draygion: Now all you have to do is click on that familiar blue button down on the left hand corner. Please review! Please!

Raven: Before I strangle him.

Draygion: *sweatdrop*

Gothic: Updates soon! I gotta catch up with my other fics! 


	2. Slade's Message

Shangri-la

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Gothic: IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!! (No I won't say how old I am.) I got Dido's new album 'Life For Rent' as one of my pressies, so I'm sitting here listening to Dido as I type!

Kitty: Happy Birthday Gothic! This chappie may be short, but Gothic's gonna try and make it as good as she can. 

Gothic: I…don't…own..it. Poor as a church mouse. And please note that the start of this chappie is described in all of it's gory details. (joy.) 

Kitty: On with the ficcie!  
  
            

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In a remote room, with nothing but the darkness to keep her company, a young woman lay in bonds against a wooden post. She had been beaten pretty badly, and now sat, or rather half lay, in silence. Various shapes flittered across what little murky light there was in the room, shapes with distorted bodies, many appearing to have claws instead of hands and fingers. Demons and other evil beings had questioned her in interrogation many times, and each time she had refused to say anything, taking the punishment. She raised her head in pride as a hooded creature stepped forward to persuade her to talk.

"Well vermin. Are you willing to tell us where your daughter _really _is?" The voice was rough, with a strange deepness to it.

"I will reveal nothing. I would die for her, and you would still be no closer to unleashing your ridiculous plans." Her head was violently flung backwards as she received a vicious lash across her head. The area where she had been hit throbbed painfully, blood trickling down over already dried blood. The crusts of blood cracked and peeled away to fall downwards as her skin pulled from the lash backwards. 

With a grunt, the demon turned away. A fellow creature of the night tossed a limb of some description to the approaching demon, holes where others had chewed at it only just visible. The woman's breathing was shallow, coming in rasps, as she fought for survival. Rage, emotion, and the love for her daughter filled her mind, swirling with the little thoughts she already had there. 

She should give up now. Leave this world, and let them never find her. But what if Draygion led them to her? She would not be there to protect her daughter when she needed her mother the most. And besides, her daughter would never forgive her if she gave up and died right now. No, she mustn't give up. Not now. Not ever.

Her harsh, shallow breathing was the only thing she heard as the darkness over came her, and the world of dreams met her unconscious mind. 

~+~+~+~+~

In Titans Tower, a very confused demon boy was wandering around the kitchen, hunting for what he called 'dragon eggs'. It didn't help that Beast Boy was already cooking his tofu stuff, and Cyborg was fighting for 'real eggs'. 

'There were times,' thought Beast Boy, 'when being a vegan did have it's downsides.'

For instance, the demon boy was rifling through cupboards, and with Cy trying to cook and stop him, things got a little cramped in their kitchen.

'Ironic,' he also thought, 'that with all this space, we only have a small kitchen.' 

Everyone's attention was suddenly directed to the position of the demon, as he let out a high pitched cry in failure from his position at a cupboard.

"Whoa! Calm it down would ya?" Cyborg tried to silence the yowling creature, but he kept crying out, over and over again. Their ears practically rang as an answering call came from the opposite side of the room.

"Enough! There is no dragon's eggs here! Now keep it quiet!" Raven angrily snapped from the doorway. The demon's siren ended as abruptly as it had started. 

"Thank you Raven! It is much appreciated that you ended your brother's song!" Starfire clasped her hands together in joy.

"That wasn't a song Star. It was a pack call. Similar to those of dogs and wolves." Raven aimed for the kettle of boiling water, to pour her herbal tea for the morning. Her brother loped over to her, asking her something in a strange demonic language. 

"Ques be thif moivsaft?" He asked in an inquiring tone.

"No. Look, you have a choice here. Either starve, or at least try some of the Earthly foods we have."

"You know, tofu eggs and bacon taste _real_ good!" Beast Boy appeared, having heard the conversation between brother and sister. Draygion sniffed the eggy mixture, and then stuck one claw in to taste. His eyes narrowed in curiosity for a minute, then widened in approval. 

"You like tofu eggs?"  Robin asked from his position at the table beside Starfire. 

"It has an intriguing taste. Very sweet." He answered. Raven shuddered, leaning against the working top, and sipping her herbal tea as Beast Boy showed her brother how to eat with a spoon. 

Her thought swayed as she wondered why her brother was here. She thought back, thinking to where Draygion would of come from, who he might of come with. Her brother would naturally of come from her home planet, Azarath, and probably come with Arella…..

Arella! Of course! Why else would Draygion be here? Arella must be in danger if her brother had come to her alone. Snapping out of her thoughts, Raven looked up, taking in all of the room there. No one had noticed her sudden change in mood, everyone was too busy eating. 

"Draygion?" The demon looked up inquiringly at his name. "I don't suppose you came with Arella did you?" Raven's expression changed from  her usual emotionless face to that of concern, when she saw the colour drain from Draygion's face. 

"Arella not here. Evil been at work. Reason why I came." He stopped, abruptly, as he saw the shocked look coming across his sister's face.

"What evil?" Was all Raven could say. Her breathing appeared shallower, as she took in that Arella was in danger. 

"The Demon Servants." Raven's hands went to her mouth at that. Her head fell in a downwards direction, and it appeared that she was sick in the nearby bin.

"Okay, who, or what are these Demon Servants? They must be pretty nasty if the sound of them can make Raven puke." Robin asked.

"The Demon Servants are a dangerous group of demons who live to purely kill for sport." Raven replied. She appeared to of pulled herself together, and was a lot calmer. "Anyone can employ them, for high amounts of money, to eliminate their enemies."  
  


"Yes! The Demon Servants have a new employer. I think his name is Slate, or something." Draygion joyously butted into the conversation, jumping up and down as he did.

"Of course! Slade! That evil dude must be after something if he's employed a group of hell demons." Cyborg eagerly joined into the evil guy deduction game that appeared to be going on.

"Technically, they're a group of different demonic races. Basically, they have everything from fire demons to telekinesis demons." Raven sighed through the confusion of the many thoughts racing through her brain.

A sudden siren rang through the tower, lights flashing along with it. Instinctively, Robin ran for the central control, pressing the right buttons until a picture of Slade came up on the screen. The other Titans surrounded him, Draygion timidly at Raven's side.

"Well, well, well, Titans. It seems you still have no clue as to what my intentions are as of yet. I guess I'll have to spell it out for you as usual." Slade's sarcastic comments felt like they were penetrating Robin's skin, wiggling deep down into his body, his heart, his soul. It was at that moment, that very second that Robin truly realised his deeply hidden hatred for Slade. It was a mind blowing hatred, full of emotional thoughts and memories, going on the horrific things Slade had done. 

"If you'd care to direct your attention to my little friend here," He motioned towards a horned creature, half hidden in the darkness like Slade himself. " My little friend here would like to deliver a little message, to your _guest._" Even Raven was shaking at this, her own hatred for Slade showing through. Draygion left Raven's side, and snarled at Slade, baring sharp demonic fangs.

"I know you've got her! She will not help you! Let her go!" The angry demon began to swirl items around the room,  as he possessed similar powers to Ravens. 

"Now, now. There's no need to destroy the tower whilst you're have a little rant." Slade chuckled, and if a smirk could cross his face, it certainly would of had. "Anger will get you nowhere. If you want to know where your guardian is, then come to the old warehouses in precisely one hour. Oh, and don't be late." The screen flickered, and then went blank.

Draygion turned to the Titans, breathing heavily. "We have to find Arella."

~+~+~+~+~

Gothic: Okay, a bit crappy, but please don't kill me! Reviews please! Updates soon!


	3. Torture And Capture

Shangri-la 

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Gothic: This story is going to kick ass is it? At least that's what somebody was kind enough to say in a nice review. Thank you Toast! Anyhow, for those of you who haven't read up on the Teen Titans history in the comics, Arella's part in this fic will be revealed somewhere around these next two chapters, Draygion's will be revealed too.

Kitty: Gothic owns nothing. No suing now, that's naughty.

Draygion: On with the ficcie!

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The flittering shadows of the Titans were illuminated against the warehouse as they made their way to the entrance. Robin's forehead was in the  

permanent crease of a frown for now, as Raven was unusually angry, whilst Draygion let out a quiet growl every so often.

"Shall we use the front door, or shall I make one?" Cyborg asked.

"Go ahead. They could use another front door." At Robin's words, Cyborg let all hell loose as he blasted the wall cleanly from its roots. The Titans charged through the second it was safe, the darkness surrounding the world around them closing in.

"Damn! What's the point of luring us here if their no one waiting for us to go psycho on their buts?!?!" Robin words seemed indeed, correct for a minute. Then, the hunched servants of Slade appeared out of nowhere, in every space there was possible. The way they had come in was blocked, all other exits were guarded, and escape was impossible.

What was worse was the ragged breathing of the Demon Servants, the selected few members there who were moving in on the 6 teens, who were in the middle, from the darkest shadows. Draygion whimpered, hiding behind Robin, and Raven's breath was quick, in nervous little gasps.

"So, _Titans_," the main leader of the group drawled, "I see you arrived in good time. Now, hand over the demons, and the rest of you don't get hurt.

_How many times have I heard that line before? Is it a historical line of some famous bad guy or something? _Robin thought.

"And if we refuse, and let you try and bring us by force?" Raven stated.

"Oh you'll come. Because if you don't," he clicked his fingers, and a half conscious woman was dragged forward, "she will die, and her body will be decapitated." The demon chuckled, and the thin light in the room from the entrance showed the woman to be severely injured. Her head lolled in a downward direction, her condition preventing full consciousness. Draygion, who had been growling continuously since the demon had demanded him and Raven be handed over, let out a full cry of attack, and lunged for his guardian with a snarl of anger. A demon darted forward and punched him full on in the stomach. Draygion howled in pain as he went flying backwards, crashing into a wall and falling, stunned, onto the stone floor below.

"Draygion!" Raven's eyes glowed white in anger, as she unleashed her power upon the demons.  Just as she was about to blast the demons to hell, one spoke again.

"If you want to see your brother as well as his guardian dead, then keep going. If you actually want them alive, then lower your attack. " The demon glared at the Titan's, as Draygion was dragged forward, still dazed, by two of Slade's henchmen. "Now." He hissed.

Raven sighed, and then vanquished her attack. She lowered her arm, and her pupils returned to her still angry eyes.

"Good girl." 

~+~+~+~+~

In the Thirteenth dimension, on the planet of Azarath, two demons were conversing in a cave. One of the demons was male, with a shaggy beard that had a light green tinge to it. His clothing was green robes, ( A/N: similar to the ones Professor Mc Gonagall wears in Harry Potter.) and his skin was green. A diamond in the shape of a star shone on his forehead, and his eyes were the same of a normal human, only they were the pupiless demon style, like Trigon's. The other was female, her youth clearly visible. Her midnight black hair fell to her shoulders, 4 equally black eyes showing pity and yet still strength. Her skin however, was the same light lilac that Ravens was, the same shokra shimmering on her forehead. A black cloak lay on the chair behind her, the rest of her body enclosed in tight, black, slightly skimpy clothing. The two were engaged in very close conversation.

"Come now Zuthion, you know that whilst the demon is there, there will be no harm."

"But my sister is in danger. If the Earth woman is killed, then despair may consume her into darkness. Not only will Earth be in grave danger, but so will demons if she returns to here to find her father." 

"Perhaps you are right. Her father is a ruthless demon, one who will, and has destroyed many lives. If she is consumed by the darkness, she returns, and she and her father fight, then yes, I do agree with you. "

"Agree on what exactly?"

"That it could kill us all."

The two demons exchanged dark looks before the younger female gathered her things together and made for the exit. Just as she was about to leave, the older demon called to her.

"Oh, and Zuthion?" The female demon turned to look at him. "Remember, she and him are not alone. If the worse comes to the worse, her friends will always be there."

The demon gave him a nod of approval, and left the cave.

~+~+~+~+~

Back on Earth, in the middle of the warehouse, screams echoed upwards as a demon's whip lashed across Draygion's back. Every so often, the demon flicked the whip across the still form of the woman next door, causing a groan, but not much other reaction. Raven had lowered her eyes in shame long ago. The other Titans looked on, terrified of it happening to them. Eventually, when the demon ordered Slade's minions to bring the Titans to him, Robin objected.

"You there! Bring The Titans to my whip." The demon barked.

"Hey, wait a minute! Why are we getting tormented too, when it's Raven you want? We could attack you, even if she can't." Noticing Raven's glare, he added on a bit. "Uh, sorry Rae, but there's no need for us to get hurt."

"And if we were injured, there'd be no one to rescue you." Beast Boy remarked.

"Oh you won't attack us. If anybody here tries to attack us, the woman and the demon boy die instantly." The leader demon hissed. "And I'm sure you wouldn't wish that pain on your friend." He added sarcastically.

Robin snarled as viciously as Draygion had, then allowed himself to be led with the others to the demon's whip.

The following two hours seemed to go on forever, every single second full of nothing but pain and torture. Eventually, they allowed the Titans to stand properly again, the blood from their wounds falling and trickling it's way to the floor. Then, as the leader grabbed Raven's arms, holding her in a tight grip from behind, other demons snatched up the remaining Titans and flung them through the exit, which the seemingly wise minions had move away from. 

"Let me go! Now!" Raven's eyes glowed white as she struggled to escape from the iron grip.   
  


"Now, now. There'll be none of the telekinesis, unless certain people are going to die." Realising her mistake, Raven relaxed her anger, but was still angry.

"Let Raven go. What do you want her for?" Robin called from where he and the others had been chucked out of. The demon merely chuckled, not answering Robin. Nobody had noticed the consciousness of the battered and bruised woman, not until she spoke in answer to Robin question.

"Because….she….is…..needed….to…release….Tri….gon…fro-" The woman abruptly stopped as she received a sharp kick to the chest.

"Shut up! You will die for that!" To which Raven really pissed off the demon by her next remark.

"Well, if she's going to die without me having to kick your asses, then…" Her eyes glowed white, as her hands glowed with her famous black/white powers.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you Raven." Slade's drawling tone called from the other side of the room. She won't die. A lot of torture, but never _death." He stalked over to where Raven was being held, eying the others at the entrance.  
  
_

"Slade!?!? What are you doing here?!?!" Robin prepared for battle.

"Claiming what will guarantee hell on Earth Robin.  Trigon is a most powerful demon from the planet Azarath in the 13th Dimension. He will kill you puny humans without remorse, and help me rule this planet. Sadly, I need to kill your friend, or influence her with darkness to release him. Pity really."

"You actually think my father will serve you like a lap dog? He will kill everything on this planet including you, and won't even think of laying a finger on me. Earth will be nothing more than a barren plain, without you in sight on the horizon." Raven received a violent slap across the cheek from a minion for this, before Slade clicked his fingers. Several more minions stepped forward.

"Here. Take her. Chain her up at the base. And take the demon boy with you. In fact, you can take both of those bitches with you. " Slade laughed slightly. 

The Titans could only watch, as their friend was dragged away, the woman and Draygion with her. The sadness and worry  was in her expression, but her eyes said something else. 

Help me.  
  
  


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Gothic: Ohh, a cliff hanger! Who is Draygion's guardian? Will Raven be rescued?  Will Slade succeed and release Trigon? Oh so many questions - 

Kitty: The answers in the next chapter! Reviews please! And in case you don't where to click, let me help you out:  
  


|         It's…

|        Just…

|        Down…

|       There…

|        At bottom….

|       Of this…

|       Arrow!

\/


	4. Heaven's Coming My Way

Shangri-la 

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Gothic: Praise and thanks to all who have left such kind reviews!  And now comes in the action, as I reveal the full potential of Slade's plans! Reviews back please, and BB/Raven romance will come in later, when Raven's been saved.

Kitty: She doesn't own it. Why do I always have to do the disclaimers?

Draygion: Save us! If you want to know if we're all safe, read the story! On with the ficcie!

~+~+~+~+~

Slade stalked around the constantly moving cogs of his hideout, occasionally stopping to consult the elderly demon bent over the form of Raven. Raven and the other two had been chained up, and practically beaten until they had dropped to the floor in agony. Raven now studied past the demon examining her, back to where Slade stood, his one eye gleaming in triumph.

_He certainly knows how to blackmail people into getting what he wants. I wonder though, can I  trick my way out of here? _Raven pondered.

The elderly demon stood up. His name was Erathi, and it was his job to decide the best way to release Trigon. Having looked at her in every possible way, and constantly typing at a nearby laptop, Raven had a strong feeling that his decision was gonna come soon. The light in the room was too dim for either her or Draygion who was also still conscious, to make out his features. All they knew was that he had yellowish skin, and various horns about him, that shone every time he made a breakthrough. Right now, his many horns were shining a dimmish glow, his also yellow eyes greedily scanning the screen in front of him. 

"Well Erathi? Have you found the best way? I want an answer soon, before the rest of those damned Titans get here to save her." Slade snapped slightly angrily.

"And that was the reason the remaining Titans got whipped, you fool. It will keep them away long enough to release Trigon. Meanwhile, I have determined that killing the girl is the best way. It means that any Titans who are stupid enough to interfere will not be able to force her dark side back down, and return her to normal if we influence her with darkness. If that should happen, Trigon would be thrown back to where he came from."

Raven gulped at this. Draygion looked particularly frightened, afraid for his own life and his sisters. 

"Don't EVER call me a fool!" Slade shouted at the slightly scared looking demon. "Now get back to work, and call the others to prepare her for the killing." Raven actually whimpered at this, as the demon scrambled back to his laptop. Slade's attention immediately snapped back onto Raven, who was beginning to regret making any noise at all. Slade chuckled, in his evil way, and stalked his way over to stand in front of Raven. She looked away, to scared to look at him.

"Don't worry Raven. " He leant down, cupping her chin and lifting her head up so that she was looking at him. "I'll make sure it's quick and _painless." Even at his words, Raven knew he was lying to her, and a small shiver of fear ran down her spine._

~+~+~+~+~

Back through several dimensions, on Azarath once more, the demon known as Zuthion was very troubled. Several nights of tormenting visions told her that her sister was in danger, and possibly her brother. As well as that, there was a recurring vision of the future, telling her that Earth was also in serious danger. Right now, some serious relaxation and meditation might help her to understand exactly what this vision of the future was telling her.  She took a deep breath, and allowed her mind to sink away from reality.

She gasped as the vision took hold. The image of a stabbing, death, and unleashed evil flooded through her thoughts. It raced on, showing the destruction of a city, and the remains of a tower, one, that although  she could see now, somehow knew had once been shaped like a 'T'. The body of a boy lay amongst the ruins, his face only just visible. For some strange reason though, she could not see the boy's eyes. 

She came out of the trance she had been in with only one thought in her head. That boy had something to do with all of this, and the destruction of that city surely meant that the planet Earth would follow suit. And that tower….

"Oh my God." She gasped as it dawned on her. "Titans Tower."

~+~+~+~+~

Titans Tower at that present time was a place of chaos, short tempers, and a rapid search going on for the location of Raven. Cyborg and Beast Boy were out hunting, whilst Robin conducting his own search via the computers at the Tower. Starfire meanwhile, was actually in Raven's room, - without Robin's knowing, hunting for knowledge on the demon Trigon. She was currently lying on Raven's bed, going through a book she'd found on famous demons, that was in a language she understood for once. 

_Raven must be able to speak many languages if she is able to read the contents of these books._ She thought. 

Eventually, Starfire came to a point in the book which bore a rather gory picture of a huge demon. There was details next to it, that told Starfire all she needed to know. Curious as she was, she read aloud.

"Born on the planet Azarath, Trigon the Terrible is a most powerful demon of many abilities and skills. Well known for his destruction of the Servgra galaxy, which resulted in devastating effects on the universes and dimensions around that galaxy. Trigon is also the father of 5 children, including two half demons by an earthling. The oldest of his children is a pure blood demon boy called Firgu and the youngest a female called Zuthion. Perhaps the most famous of Trigon's siblings is a half demon called Metrion, known for her betrayal to her father, and escape to her mother's planet of Earth. The other two children consist of the second half demon, a female called…" Starfire stopped for a second, taking in what she'd read before continuing. "A female called Sifria_. The other boy, called Draygion was exiled for assisting  in his stepsister's escape. Currently, the only way to call on Trigon is through __Metrion." _

Star looked up in shock and disbelief. "Raven betrayed her father? How will I ever explain this to Robin?" She sighed, then got up. Replacing the book where she'd found it, she headed for the door. Looking back, she sighed again, before a single tear fell from her eye.

"Oh Raven. What have you kept hidden from us?" 

Across the city, a green blood hound was sniffing at a locked, metal door. Beast Boy, who the blood hound actually was, had found Raven's scent, and was now whimpering and pawing the door. 

"Beast Boy shut up! We need Robin and Star before we even attempt to get in there." Cyborg intervened, pushing the eagerly drooling dog out of the way.  Beast Boy abruptly changed back, staring angrily at Cyborg.

"Fine then. Come on, lets go get them, and then we can get Raven back." Beast Boy stopped as he noticed that Cyborg wasn't paying any attention to him. Instead, he was speaking through his communicator back to Titans Tower, where he was speaking to Robin.

"Hey, Cy. Are we going back or what?" 

"Nope." Cyborg said whilst pressing the button on his arm that switched off his communicator. " They're comin' to us."

~+~+~+~+~

Inside the building that Cy and Beast Boy had found, Draygion was whimpering far beyond anyone's patience, and the other woman there was desperately crying out as best as she could in her croaky voice. Raven herself was tied up on a slab of rock, the mechanics that had been implanted into the rock and the bindings holding Raven specialized, so that she could not use her powers to break free.

 She was actually trembling, and anything in the form of sound rarely came from her. Slade was sharpening a holy ritual blade, given to him by the leader of the Demon Servants. 

There was more than a triumphant gleam in his eye this time, a lot more. There was success, and the thoughts of the havoc that Trigon would supposedly cause making his eye nearly pop out of it's little hole through excitement. He was like a child in a candy store.

" Prepare to die demon." Erathi whispered in his ragged voice. " It's too bad I won't be here to see it. I'm goin'  back home, so rest in living hell Metrion!" Raven lowered her head at the mention of her real name, not the Earthly one she had taken on upon landing on this planet. 

Erathi was still laughing as he wandered off, and still going as he disappeared into the shadows. Raven shuddered, her brother's whimpers hounding her thoughts into what was about to happen to her. She was going to die. 

"Well Raven. Are you ready to help me unleash hell on Earth?" Slade drawled as he approached her from the shadows.

"Not as if I have a choice." Raven muttered in reply. She received a vicious slap across the cheek, and Slade's face at her own. 

"Listen here demon. You are about to _die._ I am going to mercilessly drive this blade into your still beating heart and laugh as you bleed to death if the stabbing doesn't kill you instantly. And what's worse is that your friends don't even know where you are so that they can save you." For a minute, Raven truly believed him. Then she smirked, a cruel smirk as evil as Slade could master. Then she replied.

"Do your worst Slade."

"You little bitch!" Slade slapped her again, and then lifted the blade.

Then, with a final cry, he threw all the force he had behind it, - 

and drove it forward straight into Raven's chest. 

~+~+~+~+~

Gothic: Hehehe! You poor souls! Raven hasn't been found yet, (I think…) and I just left you on perhaps one of my best cliff hangers ever! MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! *cough* *sputter* 

Kitty: Review, or Gothic won't update! You will never know what happens! (Unless you review of course!)

Gothic: Updates soon! 


	5. The Hunt For Slade

Shangri-la 

****

Gothic: Well, I hope you all enjoyed the ending of the last chapter. *evil grin* Now the fun really begins, as the cavalry comes to save Raven! But are they too late? I guess I'll let you find out the answer to that one. *really, really evil witches cackle*

Kitty: She….owns…..nothing…..so…you…no…sue…..Just thought I'd get that out.

Gothic: Oh, and before I forget:

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!

Kitty: On with the ficcie! The ending of the last chapter will be at the start here, to help the tension at  the start here flow better. =^_^=

~+~+~+~+~

"Do your worse Slade."

"You little bitch!" Slade slapped her again, and then lifted the blade.

Then, with a final cry, he threw all the force he had behind it, - 

and drove it forward straight into Raven's chest. 

Raven's head fell forward for a minute. Then she lifted her head, the blade still in her chest, and crimson blood running in rivets down her body. She leaned forward, then whispered in a harrowing voice straight into Slade's ear.

"Didn't your mummy ever tell you that demons have 13 lives?" Slade appeared speechless for a minute, then he screamed out loud in a defeated voice.

"ERATHI! YOU LYING BASTARD! GET YOUR ASS HERE NOW YOU LITTLE TRAITOR!" But Slade's screams had no answer, for as Erathi had told Raven; he was back home, safe from Slade's threats. 

Raven meanwhile was celebrating the fact the blade had gone straight through her body, and into the circuitries of the rock behind it. The bindings holding her had no effect, and she was able to easily blast the covers away. Then, with the blade still in her body, she jumped down, the weight of the sharp blade almost pulling her forward. She braced herself, then took a firm grip on the hilt of the blade. She winced slightly as she drew the giant dagger out of her chest, and flung it aside as if it had no meaning. Which, to her, it hadn't. 

With her leotard ripped, and the wound still badly bleeding, Raven began to drag herself away from Slade. She had lost a huge amount of blood, and needed desperate medical attention. If the others didn't come soon, she was going to lose another life. She looked back for two seconds, glancing at the defeated Slade, lying helplessly on the floor in front of where she had been bound. The only reason he wasn't chasing her was that he was too preoccupied with what had just happened. And there was the fact that he could capture her again. 

Sighing softly, Raven dragged her tired and weary body to the staircase, one hand over her wound. There was blood dripping down her back, her cloak sticking to the stab and absorbing the deep red liquid, leaving huge red patches on her cloak. It was going to be a long walk home.

~+~+~+~+~+~

Back by the metal door that led to Slade's hideout, the remaining Titans were awaiting Robin's orders to smash into the place. They didn't, however, notice the stealthy and sneaky minions of Slade, who were on life and death orders to let **no one** through that door. They snuck up, like cat on mouse, and pounced upon the unwary Titans. It was only that they noticed the arrival of their attackers, when Robin found himself picked, up, spun around, and flat on his back with a minion staring at him. 

"Titans! Go!" Robin shouted his orders as he smacked the demon full on the face, and then shoved it backwards, allowing him to get up, - and draw out his staff. 

"Bring it on." Was all Robin said, before lunging into battle. They fought for several minutes, Robin determinedly smashing left and right, Starfire throwing starbolts from the air, Cyborg shooting left and right with his sonic cannon, occasionally stopping to smash the living daylights out of a closer minion, and Beast Boy transforming into every creature possible to combat the oncoming attacks. 

Eventually, after several minutes, the minions lay in shards, exposed wires and mechanical part everywhere. Just then, a survivor crawled from the ashes, half of its right arm gone. It prepared to charge, and the Titans readied themselves for its attack.

An aura of black and white surrounded the minion. It was lifted into the air, and was thrown backwards. It fell with a siren cry of help, as the Titans turned to see a rather beaten and bruised Raven standing there, the door showing the appearance of one blasted off it's hinges. 

"Raven!" The others charged to greet her, with general cries of 'You're alright!' and 'Did Slade hurt you?' Raven shrugged off the questions for a minute, and the hand upon her chest fell from tiredness. In the daylight, the Titans gasped, as they saw the huge gash, spreading from just to the left of her windpipe, going in a downwards direction, all the way to just the start of her right breast. Starfire, who was flying overhead, could see the deep red stains on her cloak, the others being able to see the ripped and torn threads of her clothing. 

"What,…what happened to you? Did Slade do this?" Robin was so horrified, that he could only just speak. Raven merely nodded, taking deep breaths, trying to stay conscious. 

"Why that little…." Cyborg shook with rage and Beast Boy just stood, in a trance, his gaze transfixed on the wound.  Raven at last found her voice, and managed few words.

"He tried to kill me. It didn't work, but I lost a lot of blood." She fell forwards, handily caught by Beast Boy, who had shook himself out of the trance only two seconds before. He supported the deeply breathing telepath, also getting blood on his front.

"Slade tried to….to kill you?" Robin curiously asked. Raven nodded, accepting the support of her teammate. 

"We'd better get back. Raven needs medical attention and fast." Everyone agreed with Cyborg's words, and decided the best way to get Raven, and themselves back to the Tower unharmed. With Cyborg carrying Raven as carefully as he could, they slowly began the long trek back to the Tower. 

Inside the building they had just come out of, Slade stood before a monitor, chuckling softly to himself. "It won't be long before you are mine again Raven….. And then, Trigon _will_ be released……" 

~+~+~+~+~

On Azarath, Zuthion the demon was in a desperate situation. Standing before her, in all his glory, was her father Trigon. He had interrogated her for hours, and now had worked himself into a roaring rage. There was no way he could force her dark side out of her, - her body couldn't take it, as she wasn't old enough yet. 

"Why was I summoned?! You are the only one in this dimension! Answer me, you pathetic excuse for a demon!" 

"I….never…..summoned….you. The….only…demon….who…can….summon…you….is…my…sister."  Zuthion  was dropped to the floor at long last, and she rubbed her throat in pain.

_Wow. He actually listened to me. Then again, that's no surprise, as it only took five½ hours. He still hasn't broken his record of 4¾ hours. _The winded demon thought.

"Where is she?" His voice was like nails on metal. She winced at the painfulness of her throat. " WHERE IS SHE?!?!" He screamed at her.

"Trugia…..17th Dimension…..In….hiding…" Zuthion managed to gasp.

"If I find out that you have lied to me, you will die a death as painful as the many who have died so many years before you." Trigon flung the demon aside, and headed for the exit. Then, with a roar of anger, and a blinding flash of lightning, he was gone.

Rubbing her head and groaning slightly, Zuthion managed to scramble to her feet. Her eyes closed, and the gem on her forehead glowed softly. She concentrated, and sent a silent message to her sister 12 dimensions away.

_Trigon's coming. He knows you've been forced to summon him. I've misled him, but I'm coming to you. Now._

Her eyes opened, the gem faded, and she collapsed, all the energy drained from her.

~+~+~+~+~

In the hospital wing of Titans Tower, Raven's eyes opened in haste, as the gem upon her forehead shone so brightly, she could see the glow reflected from the shiny tiles of the wall in front of her. As the gem faded again as quickly as it had lighted up, she winced at the painfulness of her chest. The others had bandaged up her chest, but had left her clothing, so she could see the whiteness of the bandage. She was also wired up to a drip, that was steadily putting the lost blood back in.

The message she had just received had been telepathically, from her sister Zuthion, who was on Azarath. The message had been faint, indicating that she had most likely been injured before contacting her. 

_Trigon._ She thought grimly. _He's hurt her, trying to discover why he was summoned. If Slade does that again, Trigon will most likely get through into this dimension. Oh crap._ She sank back down onto her bed, lost in her thoughts. Quite quickly she dozed off into a restless sleep, her dreams haunted by the possible escape of her father onto Earth. 

Meanwhile, the other 4 Titans were discussing what to do about Slade. There had been many suggestions, not one really good enough to use against the evil enemy.

"Come on man! There gotta be sumthing we can do!" Cyborg complained yet again at the prospect of the nothingness they had.

"Raven has been very damaged Robin, and we were not there to help her. If we do not do something soon, I fear that Draygion may also be seriously damaged." Starfire's usual enthusiasm was gone, her expression grim as the atmosphere around her. 

"Yeah man, and there was Draygion's guardian, whoever she is to also rescue." Beast Boy put in.

"Maybe Raven herself will be able to answer these questions everyone has." Robin finally spoke, his expression blank, empty, and never changing. "It seems that there are various things about her and her family that we need to know in order to defeat Slade's latest plan."

There was an outbreak of talk, everyone discussing the prospect of this. Robin waited patiently for the babble of voices to fade before continuing.

"Raven may be too injured to tell us much at the moment, but we must act fast, and rescue the other two from Slade before he uses them as bait again. So, everyone spread out and search the city for any clues. Beast Boy, you stay here, and make sure Raven is okay."

Everyone generally agreed with this, despite several groans of despair from Beast Boy. But, after Robin raised a 'do not object' eyebrow, he nervously smiled, and adopted a 'at your service' look

"Remember, cover the city as much as you can. Titans, GO!" The others left, leaving Beast Boy to whimper slightly in nervousness, and conduct his own search as best as he could by the tower's computers. 

After about an hour and a ½, Beast Boy decided to go and check on Raven, having found nothing from the computers. He tiptoed along the metal corridors, shaking a bit, as he knew what Ravens temper was like. When he entered the medical area, he was unsure if Raven had been asleep before he entered, as her eyes flickered open only two seconds after entering the room. He shrank back for a minute, as her violet eyes stared him out, then crept forward again when she made no move to shout at him. 

"What do you want?" She asked, in surprisingly calm voice.

"Um, just…checking up on you, 'cause the others are out hunting for clues on Slade's plans." He said in a rush.

"Oh. What are you doing here then, other than keeping an eye on me?" Her expression changed slightly, but only slightly, as a hint of puzzlement took to her eyes.

"Robin told me to search via the computers. I'm not too good tho. I think you're a lot better." He smiled at this, and even Raven had the decency to blush a bit. 

" I might be able to find Draygion telepathically. We're connected mentally as we're both telepaths." She actually smiled at this, nearly causing Beast Boy to faint and pass out. 

"Can ya find Slade's latest hideout? The entire team's been hunting everywhere." Feeling a bit more relaxed, he crept forward a few more paces

"Maybe….if I can get into the main room without collapsing from the undying pain in my chest." Her words, full of sarcasm, earned yet more smiles from the two of them. 

_Maybe I can get something out of this._ Beast Boy thought, as he watched Raven slowly get out of bed. She seemed to be able to cope well, disattaching the drip on her arm, as she'd had 5 pints put back in, and her body could deal with with the missing amount of blood. Together, with Beast Boy ready to support Raven if she felt too faint, the two began to make their way down to the main room. 

Raven didn't need too much help getting down from the medical room. She had to stop a few times, but on the whole, was okay. Once there, Raven took a chair to sit on, and got busy working on the Titans latest catastrophe, Beast Boy uncomplainingly watching her progress. She brought up the locations of Draygion and his guardian, and more importantly, the area of Slade's backup hideout, and how far away from it the other Titans were.

"There. That's Draygion, and that grey dot there is Arella." Raven pointed out a orange dot, and a grey dot. "And the black dot over there in the building is Slade." She spoke more softly than usual, occasionally stopping to take a gulp of air and breath more deeply. 

" So these other dots are the others?" Beast Boy asked.

"Yes. The red dot here is Robin, and the blue one, " Raven switched sides of the city, "is Cyborg." She switched again, moving in on a yellow dot near the East, close to the tower. "That yellow dot is Starfire. Robin is the closest to Slade, but he doesn't know Slade is nearby in Drewen Street." 

"Hey! Star's near the tower! She's literally just across from the East of the island!" Beast Boy pointed out Titans Tower, where Raven homed in on a green dot, and a purple dot.

"Those dots are us. Not hard to guess which is which." Raven relaxed for a minute, scanning for anything else out of the ordinary. Both were startled when Beast Boy communicator rang out.

"Beast Boy! It's Robin. We can't find anything, so we're all gonna head back to the Tower."

Beast Boy looked  to Raven, who had found Robin again. He was right next to Slade's hideout. She nodded to him, then yawned.

"Robin wait! There is something! I went to check on Raven earlier, and she was well enough to help me out. She's managed to find just about everyone." 

"Right. Is she okay?" 

"Yeah, she's fine. Oh, and you're standing right next to Slade's hideout by the way." 

There was no sound on the other end for a minute. Even Raven was looking with interest at Beast Boy's communicator. Eventually, Robin spoke.

"Right next door to Slade's new hideout?"

"Yeah dude."

  
"You're about 2 yards from the entrance. It's a black door, but DO NOT go barging in cause there's too many minions behind it for you to take alone." Raven's usual monotone voice barely altered, but there was a slight pinch of emphasis on 'DO NOT'.

  
"Okay, I'll regroup with the others, and we'll meet you guys back at the tower." Robin's voice cut off, and Beast Boy and Raven were left in alone in  front of the computer screen once more. 

~+~+~+~+~+~

Across dimensions, back in Azarath once more, Zuthion prepared to find her sister. She had packed the few things she would need, and was now in the 'Hall of Mirrors'. This hall, although sounding like no more than a fairground adventure, was actually a powerful tower, containing portals to every single dimension and planet in the whole universe. Right now, she was standing in front of a portal that looked like a full length mirror you get on Earth. Above this portal, there was a sign carved into gold, reading: 

The Solar System

'The realm of humanity.'

She sighed, then stepped forward. In a flash she was hurtling through dimension, after dimension, after dimension. She was in a wormhole of some description, black and white streaks lining the tunnel she was in. Then, a blinding flash of sky blue light shone into her eyes, causing the demon to shut her eyes in pain. She fell out of the wormhole, and landed, on her back, directly on the island at the back of Titans Tower.

_The portal of Earth is here? How can that be?_ She thought.

Shaking herself, she got up, and brushed herself down. Something told her that her sister was very close, so close she could sense her.

The third of the 5 Children of Trigon had arrived on Earth.

~+~+~+~+~

Gothic: Um, how did I manage to write nearly 3,000 words? No wonder it took so long to write! This chappie may have been a long to get through, but the romance of Beast Boy and Raven is beginning! And pay attention to the phrase 'The 5 Children of Trigon.' It plays an important part in the story.

Kitty: Well, we gotta wrap this all up now, cause Gothic wants to go surfing for interesting stories to read. She can't write and read.

Gothic: Updates soon! Lets just hope the next chappie isn't as long….


	6. Questions, Answers And A Whole Lot Of Be...

Shangri-la

****

Gothic: I am _SOOO_ scared Veral. Relax, haven't you been reading? RAVEN GOT RESCUED!!! Anyhow, keep an eye out for mentions of Zuthion and mentions of 'The 5 Children of Trigon.' Oh, and I should mention, there is swearing in this fic, just in case you didn't notice anyway.

Kitty: Oh for god's sake, why do I always have to do this?!?!

Gothic: Just say it cat.

Draygion: Oh I'll say it: Gothic….does…not…own…anything….you….do…not….sue….her.

Gothic: Thank you Draygion. Now, on with the ficcie!

~+~+~+~+~

As the three Titans who had been hunting returned to the Tower, another shadow was making its way around the building. This was Zuthion, attempting a stealthy entrance. Sadly, she wasn't quick enough to hide from Cyborg's brilliant robotic eye. He spotted her shadow slipping away into the darkness, and threw a shot from his cannon at her. 

"Hey! Get back here!" Cyborg shouted into the gloom.

"Quickly! Titans, get them, whoever they are!" Robin shouted his orders, and then gave chase. For a minute, it was no more than a game of 'follow the leader', as Zuthion led them around the Tower and back again. Finally, Robin lunged for a nearby shadow at the West of the Tower, and crashed landed, with Zuthion squirming underneath him. Gathering that the chase was up, Robin pinned the demon for a minute, long enough for the other two to reach them, until she blasted him off her with an aura of deep sea blue and white. (Like Raven's, only replace the black with the deep sea blue.) 

"Ow…." Came the faint response from Robin, who had crashed into the side of the Tower.

"Well, that certainly settles a few problems, - doesn't it?" There was sarcasm in the demon's voice, as she brushed off her outfit.  

"Who are you? And what are you doing hanging around Titans Tower?" Cy looked confused and worried.

"Fine then." She glared at the tall Titan, sarcasm lining her voice. "My name is Zuthion, from the planet Azarath. I am the 5th Child of Trigon."

"Hey! That was the freaky dude  in Raven's head, when Beast Boy and I got sucked in there one time!" Everyone stared at Cyborg's outburst, watching a sweatdrop gradually creep its way onto Cy's forehead. 

"'That freaky dude' as you describe him, is my father. Don't you _ever_ slag him off, or I will personally see to it that you die. And how do you know my sister?" Her voice showed dangerous emotion, several rocks uprooting themselves from the rough surface of the island. 

"Um, that's all very well and all, but what's this 5th Child of Trigon and all? And you're Raven's sister?" Robin returned from the side of the tower, rubbing his back in pain.

"Oh I cannot be bothered to explain the trivia of my existence to mere humans right now!" She turned away in disgust, her lip curling in anger.

"Maybe if you were to come with us, you might wish to explain to us what it is that you are so angry about?" Starfire floated down, curiously eyeing the other girl. 

"Will you take me to my brother and sister? I know Draygion's here too." 

"Okay." Robin sighed. "But our latest evil is holding Draygion captive along with his guardian, whoever she is, and we're still working on getting them back."

"And Raven got seriously injured getting away herself." Cyborg put in.

"Fine then." The calmer demon followed the two up to the tower, casting glances around her as she went. 

"Hey, wait a minute." Zuthion stopped where she was, glancing at the two ahead of her. "What does Arella have to do with all of this?" 

"Um….." Robin hesitated, sweatdropping.  "Um, we don't really know." He confessed, causing the demon to raise her eyebrow in disgust at him.

"Oh lets just go already! The others will be wonderin' what's happened to us." Cyborg intervened, before the now angry demon lunged for Robin's throat again.

Up in the tower, just as the four came to the entrance, Raven was tapping at the keys of the keyboard, Beast Boy star gazing, or at least pretending, so he could look for the others at the same time. He happened to see the ruckus outside, and the many shadows flittering about.

"Uh Raven, I think there's a disturbance outside the tower." He looked at his friend, who was quickly hunting outside the tower on the monitor. He wandered over, curious to see what she found, and strangely enough, a sort of half longing to be in her company. 

_Dude, what is wrong with me? Raven usually doesn't even appreciate me cooking breakfast._ He thought, reaching when Raven had the local outside conditions.

"Robin, Cyborg, Starfire and a new arrival in the area." Raven responded to his presence next to her. "I think it might be….." Her voice died in her throat as she recognised the name the mainframe computer gave her. "Zuthion." She at last managed to say.

"Um, who's Zuthion?" Beast Boy ventured to ask. 

"My sister." Came Raven's short reply. 

~+~+~+~+~

Slade was, whilst this commotion went on, busy replanning on how to complete his scheme. All attempts had failed, and quite frankly, he was

pissed off with the whole affair. 

"Come on! There has to be a way to defeat those annoying Titans! I guess though, Erathi did say there was another way to release Trigon……"

Storming over in the direction of Draygion, he muttered evil words beneath his breath; a plan began to form in his mind. Reaching the still chained demon, he raised the creature from the filthy ground. He hissed in a scathing voice, his hands crushing the demon's pale form.

"Tell me Draygion. How else can I use your sister to release the greatness of your father? I know there's another way than killing her."  
  


"Uh…. well, you have to expose her to a huge amount of evil, and it will draw her demonic side out. She will fall under her father's influence, and he will use her body to create a portal into this realm." Draygion stopped for breath, looking with fright into Slade's angry eyes.

"Don't…..do…it." The woman across from Draygion croaked. "Trigon….will….kill….you…if….you….kill….any…of….his...children…." 

"Silence woman!  I will deal with him myself." Slade dropped Draygion, and stalked away into the gloom, ever muttering.

The woman sighed, the wounds on her body ever visible. "Draygion." She whispered.

"Yes Arella?" 

"If I…do...not…get…out…of...here soon, I…fear…i..will…die."

"I just hope Raven comes back as quickly as she can. She was very badly injured."

"I….know." Arella's head fell forwards, all signs of life and movement lost. She was still breathing, - but only just.

"Oh, sister. Come soon. Your mother needs you."

~+~+~+~+~

In Titans Tower, four very confused Titans, and two equally confused and fed up demons, took up residence. The four who had returned were tired, Beast Boy and Raven still adjusting to the raised level of voices. 

"Will someone please explain to me what this '5th Child of Trigon' stuff is? And who is Arella?!" Robin's angry, yet patient requests fell on almost deaf ears, ones that were still working on replies. Raven and Zuthion were currently talking quietly in a corner, the sadness once in both of their eyes slightly lifted by the sight of each other. Eventually, sighing as Robin complained yet again, she answered him.

"Oh fine, I'll explain. You know Trigon, or have at least heard of him. He is one of the most powerful demons in the 13th Dimension, and is father to 5 of us children." Raven stopped for a minute, watching the faces of the others.

"The 13th Dimension is where most demons come from by the way." Chimed in Zuthion.

"And we are from the planet Azarath. Now, as Trigon is so evil and powerful, it was expected that his children would follow his example. Sadly, as me and Zuthion here are half demons, we actually have morals and respect for innocent beings. The entire story would take too long to explain, but, in general, our human sides, the side you all see on the outside is always the more dominant. Because of this, us two refused to participate in the destruction of realms that had done nothing. For this, he sought to release out demonic sides when we were old enough." Raven stopped for a breather, the faces of the others shocked and amazed. 

"So, basically, there are two sides, right? One human one demon. And if the demonic side gets loose, you go all evil and stuff?" Robin queried.

"But how are you half demons? That's the part that's confusin' me." Cy groaned.

"Because, Arella, Draygion's guardian, is my mother. Zuthion's mother too. She was taken by Trigon as his wife, then abandoned on Azarath after mating with her. Two months after I was born, he returned and mated with her again. Zuthion was born, and we looked so alike, that everyone thought we were twins."

"And as there's not much between us in age, we decided that it wasn't worth denying it. We're twins and we're not, if that makes sense." Zuthion added again.

"So, anyway, it was discovered later that Draygion was born a month after me, as Trigon had been off two timing with other demons before taking Arella. Firgu, our older brother is the first born, by Draygion's mother as well, so he is called the 1st Child of Trigon. Sifria, also born by Draygion and Firgu's mother is the second born and called the 2nd Child of Trigon. I was born next, so I'm the 3rd Child of Trigon." She stopped again, breathing deeply. "Beginning to see a pattern yet?" She asked.

"So that is what you meant when you said you were the 5th Child! You were born last!" Starfire exclaimed, looking at Zuthion.

"Uh, yeah, I'm the youngest. Draygion is the 4th Child of Trigon."

"So, we were all called the 5 Children of Trigon. Arella is Draygion's guardian because Trigon exiled him for aiding in a certain escape of mine…" Raven trailed off with a mysterious half grin.

"Yeah, you escaped from Azarath to Earth to escape from Dad, so that you wouldn't be influenced by his evil, and would go all evil as well, and then destroy worlds with him, and…Uh….." Zuthion sweatdropped as she glanced around, and noticed the stares from all around her. 

"And Draygion got exiled for helping me. Arella went with him, so that she could protect him from anymore attacks off Dad." Raven added.

"Now that explains a lot. So why was Arella taken by our resident evil of Slade?" Cy asked.

"Because it was believed that she could release Trigon into this world, - when it's actually Metrion here that can release him."  
  
Everyone looked confused at this, and Raven blushed ever so slightly.

"Um…." Robin trailed off, unable to say anymore.

"Metrion is my actual demon name. It means Raven in Azarathian, surprisingly enough. When I learnt English on Azarath, I decided to take an earthly name from it." 

_Well that's not surprising. But why can't I shake off these new feelings about Raven? Maybe,….maybe….. Oh God. No….it can't be…..I'm no_t _falling for her or something_…. Beast Boy's stomach lurched at these thoughts, and he angrily shook them away.

"But Raven, there is something else." Starfire looked both guilty and confused. "You betrayed your father, didn't you?" She looked down, sadness in her eyes.

"Holy shit….." Raven was practically speechless. "Starfire, what do you know? How the heck did you found out?" Her tone changed abruptly, going from shocked to angry.

"I…I went into your room when Slade had kidnapped you to find out more about Trigon. I discovered everything you have just told us, except for one bit." She looked sorry and afraid,  hoping silently that Raven wouldn't kill her just yet. "I am sorry, but please tell, what did you do?"

"You went into her room? Do you have any idea what you've done? And if you've read any of those books….." Zuthion turned away in anger.

"Zuthion is right. Some of those books contain very powerful stuff. I may as well tell you what I did now, there's no point hiding it." Raven was still angry, and Starfire shielded away like a frightened animal. 

"Um, might I just ask, when did you exactly find this out Star?" Robin had moved forward as well to comfort Starfire.

"When Beast Boy and Cyborg were out hunting, and you were hunting on the electrickal thingy, so I went to Raven's room and read all these books, but there were so many languages and…" Starfire stopped for breath, and saw Raven's angered expression.

For at least 5 minutes, there wasn't a single sound from any of the Titans, as they stood or sat in silence.

"Okay, this is getting freaky. Someone other than me say something!" Beast Boy shuddered for a few seconds, then sank into the woodwork again.

"If you must know Star, I threw a pretty nasty hit to Trigon. He wanted me to destroy worlds with him, and come to destroy the Servgra Galaxy. He demanded that I go, or else he would….I'm not gonna say what he threatened to do. Anyhow, I refused, and he attacked me, attempting to force me into going." Raven's sudden breaking of the silence causing everyone to jump.

"And what you threw back practically scarred the guy for life." Zuthion grinned. "He didn't even know you could be that vicious."

"Uh oh…." Cyborg added.

"I practically ripped the gem out of his forehead. As well as leaving him with violently bleeding wounds over his body. I didn't get very far though. He attacked back, and," Raven pulled back her right sleeve, to reveal a black scar, spreading from her elbow to her wrist. "left me scarred for life as well."

"Whoa. Now that musta taken some doin'." Cyborg commented. 

"He only slashed a ritual dagger across it. I've seen a lot worse." 

~+~+~+~+~

Trigon, in the 17th dimension, was very angry. Zuthion had lied to him. She had deliberately said that Metrion was here, just to keep him out of the way. Well, she wasn't going to get away with it, he was going to make sure of that.

"Now, " he chuckled, "it's time to make you pay. And what's more dear daughter, I'll be summoned again soon enough."

Trigon smashed several rocks with his heat eye beams, then turned towards the dimensional portal he had ripped open in anger.

"And then you will pay dearly for your betrayal."

With a menacing laugh, the rocked the surface of the planet Trugia, Trigon hurtled towards the portal, and raced back through worlds, times, dimensions and galaxies, back to the 13th Dimension. Here, he landed on the surface of the planet Azarath with an almighty roar, destroying everything that got in his way as he stormed back to the cave where he knew Zuthion would be.

"Come out you little rat! You shall pay for your betrayal to Trigon the Terrible! OUT!" His thunderous cries echoed thought the entire village there, spreading for miles. People, demons, creatures of the night ran for cover, hiding and shielding away from the terror of demon who had come.

Reaching down, Trigon stretched the cave open. Looking inside, he could see no sign of life.

"Hehe. Hiding away are we? You know you cannot escape my wrath girl." Upon finding no one, Trigon grew more and more enraged. In his fury, he shot at the cave. Pieces of rock and brick flew everywhere, mixed with the few belongings left in the cave.

"WHERE IS SHE?!?! TELL ME YOU PUNY COWARDS! OR I WILL DESTROY YOU ALL!" Trigon's words forced the scared inhabitants of the village there to emerge in fright, some deathly pale in fear. 

"She is not in this dimension. She told no one where she was going, she just went. We had no idea she had betrayed your trust my Lordship, else we would of stopped her." The thin and pale demon who had bravely stepped forward spoke in a quiet, yet audible voice, bowing before the great demon.

"Your words are of great help demon. You may go. If she is spotted again in this dimension, you are to capture and hold her, then spread the word that she is caught. I have great trust in you. Do not break it." Trigon watched the demon scurry away, then tore open a portal, and threw himself into it.

_Next time Zuthion, next time. You will pay, just like your sister, for what you have done._ His murderous thoughts stayed with him thought his journey, and by the time he got to the 9th Dimension, he was manically laughing.

~+~+~+~+~+~

Gothic: Uh…..how many words guys?

Raven: 2,873 words. Stop writing so much!  
  


Draygion: Rescue us!  
  


Kitty: Shut up! Reviews please! 

Robin: We're working on it Draygion! Give us a few chapters!

Gothic: *shakes head* Somebody save me from this……so just review. I thought I'd leave another hint….

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	7. Raven's Tears

**Shangri-la**

Gothic: I have updated my lookup! There are now basic bios on the 5 Children of Trigon, as well as other things… If you would like me to describe anybody in further detail, leave a review stating which character, and I'll get back to you in another review or an email.

Raven: Now that that's out of the way, Gothic owns nothing, never has done never will do.

Draygion & Kitty: Hey! That's not how you do it!

Raven: I'll let you know when I start to care.

Beast Boy: Quick! Everyone run! Oh what the heck, on with the ficcie!

Please note: By the end of this chapter, you may be feeling very depressed, sad, and even in tears. I recommend you go read a fic full of fluff to cheer yourself up. You have been warned!

~+~+~+~+~

Amongst the shadows, a killer stalked around Arella and Draygion, a lethal ritual knife sharpened to the point gripped in one hand. This killer was Slade, a dangerously mad gleam now in his eye. Driven by his anger, fury and above all, his loss to the Titans, he had finally lost his grip, and thought of nothing else than killing and murder.

"Well my dear…..I believe it is time for you to die…." Slade slithered around Arella, holding the knife to her throat one minute, caressing it against her cheeks the next. She shuddered as best as she could, her pale form barely moving against his firm grip. She was very ill now, hunger and dehydration the only things stopping her from losing touch with reality, and hallucinating into madness.

"Get away from her you freak! You're plain crazy!" Draygion cried out, fear flowing through him.

"Do you want to die first child? Or shall I merely drive you into the ground, and then throw your dead body into a grave alongside her?" Slade hissed, moving away from Arella, and back towards Draygion.

"Freak…." The demon muttered.

"I'll show you who's the freak…." Slade rasped, holding the knife to Draygion's throat. "No, I won't kill you. I'll torture you into the death of hell instead." With these words, Slade held the knife to Draygion's arm, after pulling it away from the terrified demon's throat, and slid it down his manacled arm, blood staining the knife, floor, Slade's arm, and the tortured arm of Draygion. Agonising pain ran through it, the reality of Slade's hideout slowly slipping away from Draygion's mind. He could only whisper one word.

"Raven…."

~+~+~+~+~

Miles away, in Titans Tower, the 6 teens were preparing to crash Slade's party. Raven had insisted that she was well enough, which was true enough; she had healed her wound herself, and had regained the blood lost through Slade's death attempt. The only physical memory of her first death was the second black scar marked across her chest. It filled her with rage, of both revenge and fear for her family kept prisoner by Slade.

"Right Titans. Here's the plan. Cyborg, Starfire, you go in the side door that Cy will make for you. Raven, you Beast Boy and me will take the front door. Zuthion, you go either way, or create your own way in. Everyone okay?" Several nods of agreement came from all sides, everyone discussing what they were gonna do once they got in.

"When we're in there, Zuthion and Raven, you get to Arella and Draygion as fast as you can. The rest of us, we'll handle Slade and his little drones. Everyone ready ? Then, Titans, GO !"

Everyone spread out, and either took to the skies, or after getting a lift over the water, went on foot. Darting over rooftops, Robin wondered, pondering in his mind, all the things that had happened in the last few days.

_I just hope things turn out alright. Raven will go crazy if Slade does anything potentially harmful to either Draygion or Arella_. He mused on these thoughts, keeping up pace with Raven and Beast Boy, who flew overhead. He concentrated on the beating of Beast Boy's wings for a minute, the swoop of feathers through air the only sound his mind seemed to hear. Beast Boy himself was confused and puzzled, trying to get over the disgust of his new found feelings over Raven. Being alone in the air with her didn't help, he was just thankful Robin was below. 

_Why can't I get this feeling out of my head ? It's as if I'm obsessed with Raven or something. But she would never feel such a thing back, so I'm gonna end up as just another forgotten emotion or something like that. Why can't I get over this ?_ His heart feeling generally in the bruised and broken department, he sadly tried to force his mind off Raven and onto the mission. But no matter what he though about, his thoughts always seemed to come back to Raven.

Raven meanwhile, was battling her own private battle, trying to force her dark side down again. For some unknown reason, he dark side was battling for control, and Raven had no idea if she could control it for much longer. _It's like there's something letting it out of it's cage, something that's tied me up to keep me out of the way first. Dad said he would be back, but if it is him holding me back, letting things out, then I need help. Help, _her expression changed slightly, _help from my friends._

Across the city, moving in from the other side, Starfire, Zuthion, and Cyborg were charging towards their destination. Whilst Cy charged on foot, crashing down on rooftop after rooftop, charging ever forward, Zuthion and Star took to the air, sweeping through like angels from the Heavens. Zuthion herself was very worried, as she had never seen Arella since she had come here. 

_This planet is full of hidden dangers. I wish we were back on Azarath, with no one to interfere, and things back to the way they were. Oh, Arella, Draygion, I wish you were both here, now. _ Zuthion wiped half a tear out of her eye, suppressing her emotions again, forcing them back down. _I must not end up like Metrion, desperate to control myself. Oh what am I thinking, or course I'm gonna end up like my sister. I wish this was all a dream, with nothing left to hurt us._

Whilst the depressed demon thought these thoughts, Starfire was trying not to think such terrible thoughts, and be positive. This outlook was not working, however much she tried.

_Oh, if there was not so many lives at stake then we might not have to risk such an event happening where the ones we love end up dead. And yet, if we do not act soon, that is where we may well end up. _Star's negative thoughts were reflected in her expression, her green eyes full of depressing emotion and forgotten sadness. Cyborg noticed this, he could see the sadness, and the unhappy expression on her face.

Wonder what's upsetting her so. We've been through a lot, but I've never seen Star so down. I know  Robin can get angry enough, but it's just pure malice at the moment. Everyone is so sad and depressed, with no positive or  optimistic thinking anywhere. I hope we can get though this without harming each other, physically, and mentally. 

With these also depressing thoughts running through Cyborg's head, it was a gloomy, sad, troubling time for everyone, an equally depressing atmosphere all around the 6 teens. As everyone reached their separate destinations, the gloominess of it all remained with them, the darkness in their hearts ever growing with the dreariness of the atmosphere around the city.

As they all reached their separate destinations, Robin's voice came over their communicators, each teen stopping to listen.

"Get ready Titans..." His voice was strong and firm, sure of what he was saying.

In the darkness, everyone were statues, the only signs of life being the steady breathing from each individual, the night air cold enough for one to see one's breath. In the gently, yet bitter wind that spread across the city, each teen felt the cold in more than one way.

"On my word…" But Robin never got to finish his sentence, for two loud explosions rang overhead, causing everyone to focus their attention on what was happening, rather than what they were supposed to be doing. This also alerted Slade, who quickly dispatched his minions to take out the intruders. With the Titans unwary, they were taken by surprise up on the roof, giving the minions an advantage.

"Titans! GO!" Robin shouted out his orders, whilst kicking his way out of the iron grip that the enemy had inflicted upon him, during those fateful minutes the Titans had not been paying attention. For several minutes, there was nothing but fighting as minions even got down the waiting Titans below. The fighting continued, as more and more of the opponent came out. Bit by bit, the enemy began to gain more of an edge, making Robin more desperate to defeat them. It wasn't until a voice came over his communicator that he stopped for a minute.

"Robin, we cannot take much more. We are, losing." Starfire's anxious voice came through, causing Robin to stop in his tracks.

"She's right Robin." Raven, who had made her way down to the others also made contact. "We can't take much more of this. If we don't back off, we're going to end up as Slade's prisoners all over again."  
  


"Now, now Titans. We weren't thinking of leaving so soon were we?" Slade mad and yet still serious drawl came from the black doorway that was the entrance to his hideout. Beside him, he dragged Arella, holding the ever sharp blade to her throat.

"Let her go. NOW." Came Raven's voice from the side of the building, where she floated. "It's either that or I will personally murder you myself." Raven's words would of normally made Slade a bit worried. But now, he feared nothing in his madness, a good and foolish thing in itself.

"Yes, you will let her go. You will not just face Metrion. You will face the Trigon 5. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY messes with any member of our family." The grim, solemn voice of Firgu came from above Slade, Sifria beside him. They had arrived during the bangs in the sky that had redirected everybody's attention. 

Whilst this was all going on, Zuthion had managed to get away from the fighting, and taken her chances sneaking into Slade's lair. She had made her way down, and found Draygion chained to a pole. Having freed him, the two had been making their way back up, when Firgu and Sifria had announced their arrival. Despite protests that he was injured, as Draygion had had several cuts from Slade's weapon, he had been determined to extract his revenge. He now climbed the staircase with Zuthion, the black skies and  cool night air reaching them.

"You really think I'm scared of you?" Slade was surrounded, Raven at the front, flanked by Robin, Firgu at the right and Sifria at the left. Slade, and Arella, were poised in the middle, Slade showing nether remorse or concern.

"You, Slade, are going down. You've caused enough trouble, and it's time we taught you a lesson." Draygion's determined voice came from behind, Zuthion's angered expression clear from beside him. Slade was now surrounded on either side, the other Titans standing ready on the sidelines.

It was at that point that the first of the snow began to fall. The white flakes of ice fell towards the Earth, landing gently, and spreading their beautiful patterns across the ground. 

"You think I'm scared? You think I'm going to run like a scared rat? Think again Titans." Slade had made a wise, and foolish decision. As the Titans prepared to attack, Slade removed his blade, replaced it in it's holder, and drew out several smoke bombs. Then, with a menacing laugh, he flung them around him, covering the surrounding area with smoke. As the smoke cleared, and the Titans opened their stinging eyes, the fact was obvious.

Slade had vanished.

--+--+--+--+--+--

The Titans were gathered around in a bunch, discussing what they were going to do. There had been introductions, hugs and reunions, and a lot of tears shed. Now they were trying to locate Slade and Arella, and not having much luck.

"Come on! He's gotta be here somewhere" Cyborg was scanning the area, Robin intently watching.

"Got anything yet?" Beast Boy wandered over, looking thoroughly bored. "It's getting cold out here." The snow was 1 ½ feet deep now, and still falling. The fall of snow had delighted Starfire though, she was enchanted by the cold, white melting stuff. 

"It is most delightful! Tell me, what is it called again?" Starfire's eyes were alight with curiosity and passion.

"It's called snow Star. It normally falls at this time of year." Raven answered in her monotone voice.  

"In the winter? This is the month of November, is it not?" Star asked again.

"Yep. It's Christmas soon." Beast Boy, having got bored with hanging out over by Cyborg and Robin, answered Star.

"What is Christmas?" Star asked once more.

"A religious celebration Earthlings celebrate. Robin will probably explain it to you in better detail later."  Raven responded.

"Yo Guys! I got something! Slade's over by the Business Enterprise buildings on the storage parks!" Cyborg shouted. This earned him a generous response from most people, who crowded in for more info. 

"Titans, lets go. It's time Slade got his punishment." Robin stated gravely.

"Um, I hate to interrupt, but I kinda think Slade's lost it. He was acting crazy in there." Draygion cautiously said whilst motioning towards the open doorway to Slade's hideout.

"Then we'll just shove him in a nicely white padded room, courtesy of  the nice men in white coats." Beast Boy joked.

"You won't get a chance for that. Us 5 are planning to rip that bastard to shreds." Raven dangerously made her point with her brothers and sisters standing around her.

"Heh. My bad." Beast Boy added.

_+_+_+_+_

Atop the Business Enterprise buildings, 9 shadows made their way to the back of the main building. There, they could see the mad Slade at the back, Cinderblock hunched over and ready for battle at the side, and the HIVE rejects, Gizmo, Mammoth and Jinx, chattering in the cold at the opposite side. More to the front, almost below the waiting Titans was something lying on the ground. The falling snow had covered whatever it was, preventing them from see what it was. Arella was nowhere to be seen.

"We'll go in on foot. Raven, you and you siblings come from up here, along with Starfire." But Robin's commands were picked up by one of Gizmo's devices, who quickly alerted Slade.

"Sir! The Titans! They're up there!" Gizmo shouted whilst pointing.

"Uh oh…." Came Beast Boy's all too familiar quirks

"Jinx…" Slade hissed.

"My pleasure Master." Jinx grinned, whilst aiming for the Titans.

"Titans, MOVE!" Robin shouted. But they were not quick enough. Jinx blasted right below them, causing the building to collapse, and the teens to fall in a downwards direction. They landed in a heap on the snow, with Robin and the Titans at the top of the pile to spring up and charge into battle. Raven meanwhile had been one of the first to land, and had had everyone on top of her and Star. As everyone got off,  she raised her head.

And gasped as she realised the thing lying on the snow in  front of her and the building was a human body. She staggered forward, still recovering from the fall. Reaching the body, numb fingers brushed the snow off. Through the fights that were going on, several humans and demons looked back and saw Raven. No one else had noticed the body, they had thought it rubbish, too busy concentrating on the battle. Now, looking more clearly, everyone gradually realised what the 'rubbish' actually was.

It was in fact, a human female body. And as Raven brushed the snow off, she gasped as she recognised the woman.

It was Arella. Very still, very lifeless, and very dead. Blood stained snow lay around her throat, as Raven discovered that her mother's throat had been slit. And, as she looked at the cold body of her mother, several bits of rubble from behind her began to fly through the air from her powers. The rubble circled mother and daughter, and as it did, the first of Raven's tears began to fall. Shimmering like diamonds for the few seconds they were in the air, the tears splashed onto Arella's body, running down Raven's cheeks in rivers.

"Oh dear. Did wittle Raven lose her mummy?" Slade sarcastically remarked from where he stood, holding Robin at arms length at the throat. 

The remark was Slade's fatal mistake. Raven, who  had had her eyes shut, her brain in denial, heard the remark. It sunk in.

Her eyes shot open, and in a flash of rage stood up from the body. Her eyes glowed an angry red, and she flung Slade up in the air with her powers. She held him there, before raising her head to him to speak.

"You Slade, can SHUT UP! You have kidnapped my brother, held me and him prisoner, tried to kill me, tried to destroy my friends, and…." Her eyes burned in rage. By now, every fight had stopped, as good and evil stopped to turn and watch.

"And you have killed my mother." She was livid, even buildings being levitated now. "I swear Slade, no matter what it takes, that I will have my revenge! NO MATTER WHAT IT TAKES!!!" She screamed. She levitated up to where she held him in an orb of her powers, a whirlwind of building materials torn apart surrounding them.

"DIE YOU BASTARD!!!!!" She flung everything she had at him, unleashing every ounce of power and energy she had in her. Slade screamed in agony, withering and twisting in pain. His mask was cracked, and, although what she was doing to him was unclear, one thing was obvious. 

It hurt a lot.

_+_+_+_+_

Back in Azarath. Trigon was chuckling. Slade had helped him a lot. By extracting her revenge, Raven had mistakenly released her demon side in her anger. This allowed him to influence her to continue, feeding his darkness into her. Bit by bit, Raven was falling under her father's control, darkness taking her over.

"Soon my dear, soon. Soon you will truly be my daughter.

_+_+_+_+_

On Earth, Trigon's influence was working. Raven had unleashed everything she had upon Slade, and he was in pure agony.

"Stop! Please stop!" Slade managed to choke out.

"And spoil my revenge for all that you have done? Not going to happen." Raven practically growled back at him.

"Please don't kill me! You'd be as low as I am then." Slade retorted.

"Kill you?" Raven looked shocked. She stopped for a minute, allowing him to get his breath back, still holding him in mid air. "Why would I want to kill you? I believe Robin still wants to play with you. I'm only first in line on the 'Slade torture list.'" She chuckled, accompanied by a rather evil looking grin. 

"Then stop….this…torture.." Slade managed to scream. Raven looked thoughtful for a minute. Then she replied.

"Ok." Then she hurtled him out of her orb of aura, and screaming into a nearby building behind Slade.. He smacked, head first into the building, and slid downwards to rest on the ground.

At that moment, the skies turned red. A portal opened, and demon cries could be heard from inside. The portal, swirling like a wormhole was identical to the one Cyborg and Beast Boy had been thrown through into Raven's mind. Then, the head and shoulders of Trigon appeared.

"Feel my rage!" He cried to the skies. Raven gasped, and screamed as Trigon's power unleashed her dark side. Her father stepped out of the portal, in all his glory. 

"Come my daughter! Embrace in the darkness!" Raven, who had been invisible in the orb of power surrounding her suddenly became visible again as her powers faded from around her body. She looked,….pure evil. Her skin was red, with Trigon's 4 eyes. Her hair had grown, a lot, and was now a black colour. Her clothing was equally red, and sharp fangs protruded from her mouth. In short, she was truly Trigon's daughter. 

Raven soared up to her father, standing alongside him. Then she hissed her final words to the Titans.

"Let evil reign!"

The War for Earth had begun.

_+_+_+_+_

Gothic: I've upgraded from 2,800 words. We're now on 3,486. Good huh? I would of updated sooner, but I was in the middle of this chappie, and like the dumb ass I am, accidentally clicked 'No' on the 'Do you want to save changes?' box. Consequently, I lost half my work. 

Kitty: Oh and: pleasedon'tkillispleasedon'tkilluspleasedon'tkilluspleasedon'tkilluspleasedon'tkilluspleasedon'tkillusand….uh….pleasedon'tkillus!

In short: PLEASE DON'T KILL US! 

Draygion: Arella got killed. And for anyone's who's interested, this chapter was originally going to be called 'Going Through The Motions,' but was later changed to what it is now.

Gothic: Please don't kill us, and uh, reviews please!

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	8. The War Begins

Shangri-la

Gothic: *sweatdrops*  Don't worry Veral, I have plans for BB and Rae later…. Meanwhile, I'm still recovering from the ordeals of writing the last chapter. *hyperventilating* So….anyone for updates? Oh wait. That's why you're here reading this aren't you? *sweatdrops*

Kitty: Gothic owns nothing except for the tATu CD she's currently playing. She doesn't own tATu either. 

Trigon 5 minus Raven: Help! Our sister is evil and going to destroy the Earth!

Evil Raven: MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! Die all you pathetic mortals!!! 

Robin: Do shut up. It's hard enough thinking without you threatening the Earth.

Kitty: On with the ficcie, - before they kill each other!

Gothic: I've just realised. My squiggly breaks have been different 'cause the keys are in the wrong place. In case you think I'm mad, my family has recently changed keyboards. As a result, the keys I normally use in my breaks (~ +) are in different places. Duh! I am such a dumb ass!!!

Kitty: Just read people…..

~+~+~+~+~

Jump City was in a critical condition. Destruction lay everywhere, and Trigon had taken his place as King of the City. Raven ruled as his most lethal warrior, prepared to fight to the death for her father. The Titans hadn't even got close to fighting at least Raven, the onslaught of the demon ravens and other creatures enough to grind them into the ground, and leave them begging for mercy.  The Titans had crawled back to Titans Tower in terrible states, hiding away to lick their wounds.

"Com' on Robin!" There' gotta be sumthing we can do!" Cyborg complained, whilst rubbing the rust off his robot components.

"We are very badly damaged Cyborg. At this time, there is not much we can do." Star's eyes were duller than they had been before, and her facial expression was very saddening, the burns from the battles that they had fought shining in the light.

"Star is right." Beast Boy was serious, his jokey look and tone of voice gone. "Look at it out there. See what has become of the City. There's nothing we can do like this." Beast Boy motioned towards the window as he spoke, the flames and the ruins of buildings, homes and lives clear as ever, the destruction shrines to the darkness against the still red sky.

"We will throw everything we have at Trigon. But, when the time comes, we will have to face Raven. Then, we will fight." Robin was more determined than ever. Although he had been the worst injured, the one thing the enemy could never destroy was his courage. Nothing ever disheartened him, despite all the things he and his team had faced. This was going to be the battle of their lives, they being the only barrier between the obliteration of the world.

"We will help. Our father is the source of all this chaos, and we cannot help but feel a little bit responsible." Firgu's strong willed voice came from behind, his battered and beaten siblings also looking ready to fight.

"Very well. In that case, Cyborg, send out the call for every ally of the Teen Titans. We will need every bit of help we can get." Robin ordered.

"Ok….One distress call going out." Replied Cyborg.

"Oh, and be quick about it." Came Robin grave voice.

~+~+~+~+~

Far off from Titans Tower, in the centre of the city, Trigon's throne stood like a phoenix from the ashes. Beside him, on a speaking level, sat Raven, a tower having been built so that she might be able to speak with her father without having to shout.

"So father, now that we have conquered this pathetic city, shall we proceed with the next?" Raven hissed in question.

"Patience my daughter. You have great ambition, something I have always admired about you. But first, the Teen Titans need to be destroyed, then the rest of the annoying superheroes in this mortal world." Trigon growled in reply.

"Gotham City…." Raven pondered.

"As I said, you have great ambition." Trigon laughed, an evil, menacing laugh. "The Justice League will have no idea what will have hit them." Father and daughter laughed together for a minute, the demon servants around the pair curious as to what amused them.

"Enough." Trigon snapped his fingers. A raven came forward. "Go. Take the best of your men. Capture the remaining humans, and lock them in the underground cells." His eyes narrowed in a dangerous way. "Make sure there are none left. Leave the Titans, Raven will deal with them."

"It would be my pleasure to destroy them father." Raven commented after the demon bird had left. "After all, If we do not get rid of them soon, they will become nothing more than a thorn in your side"

"Exactly." Said Trigon in a menacing tone.

~+~+~+~+~

Far to the East of Jump City, several demon creatures stood guard over many areas of earth. If one took a look closer, one would see that there were several holes in each patch. On top of these holes were metal covers, bars striping across. These 'cells' had entrances no bigger than man holes, but spaced out immensely inside. Within these filthy holes, many humans, of all ages and genders were chained up. The smell was very disgusting, and very potent to one locked up for long periods of time. 

"There are new arrivals sir." One guard growled to the head demon of the territories. "More female and child humans."  
  
"Undoubtedly, the males offered their lives for their families. Pathetic morals and oaths. Why do these humans have them?" The leader angrily snarled in return. 

"It is a mystery we are not meant to know. These humans are very dependent on themselves and their beliefs. Without such ways of life, humans would be very different, and much harder to crush and defeat." Erathi's voice echoed across the barren wasteland that was the prison cells. 

"Erathi. It is good to see you again. I heard you tricked an earthling, before making your great escape." The leader demon called.

"Yes, I did trick an earthling. Ran off to Trugia. Trigon found me there and brought me back to Earth with him." Erathi rasped.

The two guards looked at one another with new found respect for the elderly demon. "Welcome back Erathi." The leader clapped him on the back, and led him to see Trigon's captives.

The moans and groans of the prisoners crept up from the cells like a ghosts last words creeping from the grave. The stench of unwashed bodies and human waste rose from each hole, the ground beneath them bare and lifeless. For some odd reason, the snow was melting away, transforming into water and running down to the prisoners below. 

As more and more ravens and creatures winged their way towards these prisons, the whole torture of it all became more than a nightmare to the young children and teenagers locked up. For a long while, most of the young adults, teenagers and children had tried to believe that it was no more than a nightmare, a very realistic nightmare. For those astrological and mystical dreamers, they believed that they were all trapped in some kind of lucid dreaming, where you normally were aware you were dreaming, but the dream was very realistic. The only problem with this dream was that they weren't asleep. Bit by bit, the older ones first, the youth of the people began to realise that this was no dream.

It was very real, and very frightening. 

~+~+~+~+~

Towards the city centre, where Trigon and Raven were, a small 9 year old boy and his 13 year old sister hid in terror. They had managed to evade the capture of every single inhabitant of the city. The horrendousness of seeing the people being dragged away against their own will had scared the boy almost to death. Now they had crept out of the sewers where they had hid, and were crouched behind a slab of concrete. Fire and wreckage lay around them, no building whole, at least the top ripped off it. The remains of these destructions littered the streets, the skies blood red with several black streaks here and there. 

As the two hid there, a hustle of guards came past, dragging their latest captives. Women cried and clung to their children, the youngsters afraid, and desperate to stay with the protection of their mothers. Little did they know, that they might never see their mother alive again. The misery of the older, much wiser children was clear by just looking at the expressions on their faces. 

The procession came forward, the people depressed, and fearing for their separate families. At that point, a birdarang shot from a nearby wreckage of a car, and smashed into the leading creature.

"Let them go." Came Robin's severely pissed off voice from the wreckage. At that, the shadows of the four remaining Titans, the Trigon 5, Aqualad, Thunder and Lightning, several armies of creatures from Atlantis and other watery depths and 4 newcomers from Tamaran. These newcomers were Starfire's sisters, consisting of Moonfire, Sunstar, Sweetfire and Sunafire, all having come on a call from Starfire. . All in all, there was more than 30 beings there, all determined to fight for the planet Earth. The Atlantisians were there to stop Trigon's evil spreading to the underwater depths, and then to the rest of the world, Starfire's sisters were there to stop the evil getting past the 1st Dimension, and everyone else was there purely to save the Earth.

"Never! They are prisoners of Trigon the Terrible! We are on orders to capture them!" The leading Demon hissed back, the birdarang having barely hurt him.

"Um, dude, you're capturing the inhabitants of Jump City. Hello? We're also inhabitants!" Beast Boy put in.

"Heh, heh, heh. Oh, we're not dealing with you. _Trigon's daughter is going to play with you_." The demon sarcastically commented.

"Um, I think he means Raven. And I'm thinking that's not a good thing." Cyborg added.

"Wow. You actually got something right. I'm impressed." The huge group looked up to see Raven levitating slightly in front of the group of people, a rather evil looking smirk on her face. "And now it's time for me to eliminate your sorry asses and let these nice demons continue their work to save their buts." The smirk got bigger, pure evil in her eyes.

"Well then," a nearby demon remarked, "Let the battles begin." Sniggering, the demon stalked off with the rest of the demons leading the people.

"Looks like I get to have some fun." Raven's eyebrow raised slightly at the prospect of the 'fun' that was awaiting her.

"Titans! GO!" Robin shouted his commands, and charged forward with the rest of the pack.

Raven didn't hesitate. She quickly opened a portal, her hands glowing with her familiar black and white aura. Demon birds charged out of the portal that was also identical to the past two Cyborg and Beast Boy had seen. Flying towards the approaching Titans, the birds cawed, scratched, bit, and did anything they could to bring the Titans down. This ambush was followed by hideous creatures with horns, hoofs, claws and other disgusting and nasty bits about their bodies. These also sprung out of the portal, drawing blood stained swords and daggers, charging and slicing at the teens.

"Robin! She's too strong!" Aqualad called. "We're going to be hacked to pieces." He shouted, whilst ducking a slash from a demon sword. He kicked the demon back, and as it staggered, reeling from being winded, Aqualad smashed what appeared to be it's nose in. Nose cartilage was driven back into bone, and the demon fell to the floor.

"We haven't even got as far as trying to hurt Raven herself! Keep going! If it gets too overpowering, I'll call back!" Robin yelled back, also ducking a blow from a demon. A raven came flying down, and he smashed it back into the air with his staff. The demon came raging back, screaming a battle cry. It was aiming to impale Robin on it's disgustingly dirty weapon. Robin dropped to the floor, and swung his body around to kick the demon's calves. He rolled out of the way as the creature came crashing face down, and stood up again, brushing himself off. 

"Now to deal with you!" Robin cried above the tide of the battle. He rushed towards Raven, smashing everything that got in his way. He had to stop and properly take down some of the enemy quite a few times, but, eventually, he reached the fiendishly laughing Raven.

"You are going down!" With a cry, he lunged himself upwards, and towards Raven.

"Fool! You think you can take me down!" Raven retorted. She kicked him backwards as he flew towards her, swooping down to where he crash landed to finish the job. Her attitude changed as she went from amused to pissed off. "This is what you get for messing with a full fledged demon." She hissed whilst hauling him back up by his shirt.

"I don't think so." Robin grimly replied. Then he planted both hands on her stomach and shoved her backwards and off him. Too angry to speak, she got up, and rammed him backwards with her powers, going up and over the battle she had just thrown him through to hurt him more. She was shocked when he lunged from the crowd, and pushed her to the floor. They landed with Robin on top of Raven, Raven pinned to the floor. Seriously pissed off now, Robin swung himself around and straddled Raven. Furious, he punched her full on in the face, several times, giving her a nose bleed and numerous cuts, not to mention various bruises. Stopping for a minute, Robin breathing in deeply, Raven rubbing where he had punched her. Then, angry, Raven's hands glowed with her power, and she flung Robin off her.

"I  can't be beat that easy." Raven snarled, stalking towards Robin. She kicked a nearby demon out of the way, then proceeded with her torture.

"Robin!" Star cried. Starfire had been close enough to see what was about to happen. She soared upwards, and flew around to the back of Raven, who had been to preoccupied with what she was doing  to notice Starfire. Star's hands glowed bright green, and in her anger, she hurled a starbolt at Raven back. Raven hissed in pain as the starbolt hit her, and swivelled around to face the alien girl.

"You will pay for that." She growled.

"Incoming!" Yelled Cyborg, as he blasted Raven up towards Starfire with his Sonic Cannon. Star retaliated by throwing several starbolts, badly burning Raven. She would of hurtled downwards to Earth had Beast Boy, in bird form not grabbed her. BB rose upwards, flying high with Raven, who was too dazed to protest. When the two were above the portal, that was still open, Beast Boy dropped Raven, – who landed right beside the portal.

"Yo! BB! Get your ass over here!" Cyborg shouted, whilst blasting several ravens from the sky, then elbowing an oncoming demon. "We could use a little help!" He cried again, whilst smashing the demon's face in. 

"Coming!" Beast Boy, who had transformed back into human form. He hadn't accounted for the recovering Raven behind him, who held him with her powers. 

"Hey! Let me go! HELP!" Beast Boy transformed into every animal there was possible, struggling to get free.

"Ummm, seems to me that you could use a trip back to Azarath….or elsewhere." Raven pondered, her eyes glowing, and holding Beast Boy fast.

"Maybe you could use that trip sometime." Moonfire, her powers being crescent moon shaped moonstars, slammed into Raven's back, forcing her to focus on the alien and not Beast Boy. Pinning the angry demon to the floor, Moonfire held her front down, allowing Beast Boy to get away with Raven's concentration broken.

"Get….off….me…." Raven thrashed about underneath Moonfire, struggling and squirming to get free. Moonfire was surprisingly strong.

"Not going to happen anytime soon babe." Moonfire commented, pushing down even harder.

The battle raged on for over 4 hours, good and evil fighting it out, new and more dangerous demons and creatures piling from the portal everyone so often. The more the Titans began to get an edge, the more the enemy would fight, driving them back down. Slowly but surely, the Teen Titans were losing, the opponent winning the fight for Earth.

"Come on Titans! We can't lose now! Charge!" Robin, worn down and tired, would fight to the bitter end if he had to, ordering his troops forward and back into the conflict. 

"Brother! Help! We are cornered!" Lightning shouted for his brother, him, Sunstar and Sweetfire backed into a rigid circle, the demons holding bloody swords in front of their faces. 

"Nobody hurts my brother! Get away from them!" Thunder and Cyborg slammed their way through, striking out their opponents and clouting demon ravens on the heads as they cawed their way down to the two. Thumping a demon out of the way, Thunder struck another of the soulless beasts with a thunder shot, followed with a lightning shot, before the two brothers stepped back and let the two alien sisters take their turn. 

Holding her hands in front of her as if she was praying, Sunstar chanted underneath her breath, and slowly drew her hands away from one another. As her hands parted, a blinding light shone in between, growing as the gap increased. Eventually, when her hands were about two feet apart, Sunstar somehow lifted the ball of amber light above her head, and flung it at several demons. Her targets vanished in puffs of smoke. Drawing daggers to fight on a closer range, Sunstar stepped back, and Sweetfire took her turn. Lifting her right hand above her head, Sweetfire brought the hand back down, and across to the left in a swift movement. Fire ignited where her hand had swept across, and blazed up, catching alight the oncoming demons. They burned and cried, damned to hell forever. Sweetfire drew a ritual sword, flying back in to stab the fiends to death.

Raven meanwhile, had managed to blast Moonfire off her, and turn to face her opponent. She hissed strange words, opening another, much smaller portal. Raven reached her hand into this portal, and drew out a sword. This sword had a black hilt, with various crystals and a deep silver blade. Smirking, Raven swung for Moonfire, catching the alien's left cheek. 

"So, you wanna play? We can have lots of fun playing 'Slay the alien'. You'd like that, wouldn't you?" The sarcastic tone of Raven's voice cut deep, causing the alien girl to quickly take to the air, and away from Raven.

"Hmm, guess not then…" Raven added, whirling around to point the end of her sword at Robin, who had managed to creep up on her. "Make another move and I will skewer your dead body on this blade."

"Can I back off then?" Robin nervously asked.

"No." Came Raven's dangerous tone.

Robin gulped nervously as the battle continued all around him. But the only things he saw was the crimson red skin of Raven in front of him, and the evil, determined expression on her face. As he concentrated on these sights, he could only hear the still beating of Raven's heart, and his heart, oblivious to the world of fighting and war around them. 

It was at that point that he realised the only thing that would bring their old friend back to them.

Trigon had to die.

~+~+~+~+~

Gothic: Bios on Starfire's sisters will go up at some point….when I get round to it. I also thought of a poem the other night, if you're a major Raven fan (like me...) then you might like it, as it's based on Raven's feelings at night. Now I'm going to read some nice stories of yours, and enjoy my handy, nearby cup of tea.

Kitty: It's so damned cold here in England! Do not, I repeat DO NOT come to England for the winter! It's bitterly cold outside today.

Gothic: Go with Kitty. I hope you all had a lovely Christmas, and have a joyful new year. I'll continue updating, but for now, please review for me. =^_^= 


	9. Chain

Shangri-la

Gothic: Now, now, did we all enjoy the last chapter? I've decided, in my infinite wisdom, that this chappie will have a poem in it, one that I wrote especially for this fic. The inspiration for the poem came to me in the middle of the night (what's new there…) and managed to record it whilst hidden under my duvet, with a torch, spare writing book and a pencil. And it was only 10 minutes past 4 in the morning…

Kitty: Basically, she's written a poem for the fic, and it will be worked into the story. (somehow…)

Evil Raven: You won't get a chance to do that! I will kill you all! MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! *cough* *splutter* 

Draygion: *in boring business like voice* Gothic does not own the Teen Titans so you will not sue her.

Gothic: I know it's not in the summary yet, but there will be StarxRobin in this chapter…..and later chappies as well! And I'm sorry that it's taken me so long to update, but Christmas and the New Year got in the way, and yes I know that's a poor excuse.

Kitty: OMG! The madness! On with the ficcie! Oh, and although it doesn't say so in the chappie, the poem is called 'Trigon's Daughter'.

~+~+~+~+~

In the centre of a ever going war, death, destruction and fighting going on around them, Robin and Raven were as still as statues. Raven held the sword at just the right angle for impaling him on it, and killing him instantly. Afraid for his life, Robin had frozen, lest she stab him on the already blood stained sword. To Robin's mind, the two were in a different world altogether, the battle around them merely deaf to his ears, the sights barely even there. For a while, all he concentrated on was the steady heartbeats of both of them, and the even light breaths of Raven.

_~ Up in the Heavens, sitting upon a cloud._

_Rests a mother, her head tall and proud._

_A thousand miles away, on the planet Earth,_

_Evil is coming, Hell its birth._

_The people of Earth, unaware,_

_That evil is showing a deathly glare._

_For now is now, and now then,_

_Evil is coming, it's ranks times ten._

_She is the one, Trigon's Daughter._

_She will kill them all like lambs to the slaughter. ~_

Beast Boy, Starfire, Thunder, Sunstar and Sunafire had been pinned to the floor in the tussle. Wrestled to the ground, and held by more creatures than ever before from the portal, they were powerless against the sturdy creatures.

"Hello?! We need help here?! " Beast Boy squirmed and wiggled trying to get free, every form he tried just being restrained even tighter. 

"Please! Somebody help us!" Starfire cried, her starbolts barely even touching the demons.

"Brother! Please aid us!" Thunder shouted as well, his thunder blasts also scarcely hurting anything. "Get off me!" 

"Where is Robin?" Starfire asked.

"Battling it out with Raven probably." Beast Boy replied, an attempt to get free landing him face to face with his captor. "Dude, your breath stinks."  
  


~+~+~+~+~

At the centre of the city, Trigon rested upon his throne. He had hoped, after years of slain demons and deathly respect from the lesser minions of the 13th Dimension, that Earth would be a challenge. But now he could see, this had been a waste of his time.

_Pathetic humans. And I thought that this would be a test of my true powers and abilities. But it wasn't even a fight worth me taking part in. The only real advantage of conquering, this realm was that it gave me my daughter back. _He thought bitterly. _And soon it will be known that I, Trigon the Terrible added the planet Earth to the list of obliterated galaxies. _Trigon chuckled, and got up from his throne. Striding over to the East of his 'throne room', he looked out across the city, spotting the battle between the Titans and Raven. With careful precision, Trigon located the battle stances of Raven and Robin, both equally motionless, the sword still held at dangers point. 

"So she hasn't yet taken him down. Interesting angle, toying with the annoying human, never slaughtering, always playing cat and mouse. " A cruel smile came to his lips. "She will be the perfect warrior, always loyal, and definitely knowledgeable in the arts of _anguish and pain._"

The demon's evil smile left as quickly as it came. 

It was time to claim Earth as his own.

Making his way out of the 'throne room', Trigon began to make his way to the East of the city. It was here, just off the coast, that Titans Tower stood, the only building still standing amongst the remains of the cities other towers and skyscrapers. On the inland, mainly by the shore, the battle between good and evil was still going on, Robin and Raven now circling each other, Robin still at Raven's mercy.

_Time for demonic daddy to make his grand entrance. _The smile returned, more of a grin than a smile. 

The Titans wouldn't know what had hit them.

_~ Upon the Earth, man is weak._

_Knowledge and wealth all they seek._

_Trigon the Terrible, powerful demon._

_He will have Earth as demons are dreamin'._

_From being held in Hell,_

_To ringing Earthly bells._

_The Titans think, that they can defeat,_

_But in the end, loss is all they will meet._

_She is the one, Trigon's Daughter._

_She will kill them all, like lambs to the slaughter._ _~_

As Robin and Raven slowly began to circle each other, barely moving apart from their feet, the battle going on was beginning to tire. The Atlantisians had mainly been driven into the ground, and Aqualad himself too tired and injured to carry on. The trapped heroes, for the time being, were desperately trying to escape, but were still held down and unable to do anything. Cyborg however, was free, but unavailable, as he was stuck smashing away an onslaught of demon minions and ravens. Moonfire and Sweetfire were also busy, a flock of ravens swooping down to scratch them, Lightning flanking them in the little tussle going on.

~+~+~+~+~

Raven meanwhile, was tired of playing cat and mouse. She advanced on Robin, bearing the sword with both confidence and brashness.

"Well Robin, I think you and me have had enough _fun._" Raven smirked dangerously. "I think I'll just dispose of you once and for all.

With these words, Raven swung for Robin, catching his left arm. Blood spilled from the fairly deep wound, the temporary pain causing the wonder boy to instinctively hold the gash with his other hand.

"I don't think so. If anyone's going down, it's you." He solemnly replied.

"TITANS!" Robin yelled. "RETREAT! BACK TO TITANS TOWER!" The sudden outburst knocked Raven's concentration, allowing Robin to use those precious seconds to quickly drop kick Raven's ankles and plunge her to the floor. Robin whirled around,  and smashed his way through several demons to reach his friends. 

"Get off them!" He cried, kicking and punching the minions off the trapped Titans. "Go! Grab who you can and get back to the tower. I have some unfinished business."  
  
"But Robin! We have lost. The best thing we can do is to all return to the tower so that we can work out how to defeat Raven!" Starfire held Robin, stopping him from dashing off again. Robin didn't struggle. He allowed Starfire to lead him back to the withdrawing allies, Beast Boy wandering, and helping Starfire's sisters. It was when he had helped Sunafire to her feet that he realised. 

The Trigon 5 were gone.

"Robin! The Trigon 5! They've disappeared! I can't find them anywhere!" Beast Boy hollered across the barren wasteland that had once been the city, but was now a bloody battle ground, lives lying everywhere. The enemy, having seen that the Titans were retreating, had backed off at a call from Raven, who vanished mysteriously with her army. The portals still shimmered in the air, the swirling red vortex ever spinning and twisting.

"Where could they be? Why would they vanish like that?" Robin pondered.

"That's strange. I can't recall having seen them through the fight. Wondered what happened to them." Cyborg added, whilst rubbing the scratches on the metal plates of his arm.

The battle worn Titans looked across the battle field, the bodies of minions lying everywhere, as well as several corpses of the Atlantisians. The Atlantis army had lost more than ¾ of their soldiers,  their remains lying about the field. 

"So many lives…." Aqualad murmured, his head held low as the remaining Atlantisians came to him for comfort. "Why must all this fighting be for one cause?"

"Aqualad, there is plenty more reasons why we are fighting here!" Appalled by his friends words, Robin set out to put him straight. "Raven may be evil, but we are not just fighting to get her back! The world is at stake here. If we allow Trigon to defeat us, the world is doomed." The boy wonder fell onto one knee, the pain from the gash in his left arm hurting all the more.

"Robin!" Starfire dropped beside him, putting one arm around the hurt and defeated leader.

"I'll be okay Star….Just…need to…get my breath back." Robin, unable to hold onto consciousness anymore, fell sideways against Star's chest. Starfire clutched at him, tears beginning to drop from her green eyes onto Robin's ivory black hair. It was a sweet, and sad scene at the same time, to see Star's love for Robin was one of the sweetest things the Titans had ever seen. But to see their leader overwhelmed by the enemy was, worrying.

_~ The rain falls, the thunder crashes,_

_The city lit up in lightning flashes._

_Influenced by her father, and told sinful things._

_Made to believe that he is King of all Kings._

_The murderous glare of the raven bird,_

_Her view of the world uneven and obscured._

_Death to her enemies, and Hell to the dead._

_Murdering humans, or imprisoning them instead._

_She is the one, Trigon's daughter._

_She will kill them all, like lambs to the slaughter. ~_

As the Titans crawled back to the Tower, Starfire carrying Robin, the actual weight of the defeat began to settle in. The fact that Raven had crushed them, and played with them as if they were no more than toys filled their heads with very grave, even severely depressing thoughts. 

_Why can we not overcome this evil from Raven? We are a team, as Robin has said more than once. Are we not stronger as a team, not individually? _Starfire was particularly distressed, her green eyes once again filled with tears. With Starfire, it was always in the eyes, her eyes telling far more about how she was feeling than any facial expression, or any words that she might say.

"Come on ya'll, we're almost there! Just a little further." Cyborg encouraged the sad little bunch on, trailing his way up the beach to the pathway leading up to the tower. Everyone dragged themselves forward, Starfire's sisters talking in a strange language amongst themselves. If Robin had been awake, he would of tried to encourage them as well, but nothing could of lifted the miserable mood over all the Titans that night.

Heaving themselves in, Cyborg led the way up the staircases to the main room, Starfire directing herself and several others to the medical wing, where they tended to the various wounds about themselves. Cyborg, Beast Boy, Sunafire, Sweetfire, Moonfire, Thunder and Aqualad made their way to the main room. As they entered, Cyborg looked up, and gasped, dropping the metal plate from his arm that he'd been carrying.

The Trigon 5 were in there, talking amongst themselves. Several laptops were dotted about, as the 4 demons trotted around, going from the main computer as well, searching for info on Trigon and Raven.

"Hey! You dudes have been here! Whilst we were fighting it out with Raven! What have you dudes been doing that was so important?!" Beast 

Boy complained.

Firgu looked up. Beside him was Sifria, bent over a laptop. "We have been researching."

"Researching what exactly?" Sweetfire asked.

"How we may be able to defeat Trigon and return our sister to normal. We got our asses kicked out there, and we can't afford to do that again."

"So how are you planning on doing that?" Cy questioned, looking curious as he rooted around on the floor for his metal plate.

"We called in for a little help from an expert." Zuthion added. "Meet Chain."

A sky blue skinned demon came forward from another laptop. She had long black hair, that reached just below her shoulders. Dark makeup made out seemingly human eyes, with likewise black lips, two fangs poking out like Beast Boy's fang. She wore flared black jeans, an accompanying black belt around her waist, and a three-quarter-length t-shirt covered her top half, with a navy blue logo saying 'Demon. What demon?' on it. Strangely enough, the gem on her forehead was red, as was some of the many bangles on her wrists. Two leather bracelets, one on each wrist finished her goth look.

"Hey. You must be Cyborg. I'm Chain." Chain offered her hand in a make of friendship, a smile crossing her face.

"Nice to meet ya. Robin's currently to injured to stand, and Star's loyally not leaving his side. You can meet 'em later." Cy smiled too, as he shook her hand. 

"So why are you called Chain?" Beast Boy asked. The demon laughed, then replied.

"I was trained on Azarath to be a fighter demon. That's unusual, 'cause I'm a half demon. Anyhow, I used to beat trainer robots to their death using a chain for a whip. I learnt how to use my chain whip as a good weapon, and when I escaped from the Fighter Demon Camp, I took my chain whip with me. I took the name chain from it."

"Chain here can help us use Raven's current 'status' to our advantage. Believe it or not, but when Raven's not evil, she's an old friend of Chain's." Zuthion added.

"Okay, I'm starting to get confused." Aqualad's look could have been disgust or confusion.

"Raven found me wandering around Azarath after I escaped from the camp. She took me to Arella in the church there, where I learnt that the world isn't all that bad. When Arella and Draygion came to Earth, I figured I would be needed soon enough." Chain's expression was seemingly emotionless, recovering the memories of long ago.

_~ Amongst the ruins of mortar and brick._

_Lies the lives of mortals, still as sticks._

_But the heroes just want to lay their arms down._

_And slay their demons, lift that frown._

_Tear by tear, they lift their swords._

_Ready to fight, like pawns on a board_

_For now is now, and then is then,_

_Let battle commence, Raven Vs Wren._

_She is the one, Trigon's Daughter._

_She will kill them all, like lambs to the slaughter. ~_

"So you're gonna help us? How are you gonna do that?" Cy asked once more.

"I know just about everything there is to know about Raven. I will hopefully enter her mind telepathically, and mentally help Raven to fight this evil. If I'm successful, you'll stand a better chance of defeating Trigon."

"Neat…." Beast Boy commented thoughtfully. 

  


~+~+~+~+~

Musings took place for the next 3 hours. People came and went. Starfire visited, was introduced to Chain, and went again. Cyborg went to make repairs. In general, everyone was keeping themselves occupied, whilst trying to think of ways to help Raven.

Trigon had to be destroyed, they all knew that. But still, thinking of a good way to hold Raven off long enough to summon enough power to defeat Trigon was no easy task. Taking Chain's help might be the only way to save the Earth and bring their friend back. Whilst Starfire tended to Robin once more, Cyborg talked with Beast Boy about accepting this new offer of help.

"Com' on man. There's no other way. Raven's powerful enough. Do you really think we can take Trigon himself on?" Cy asked.

"No, I'm not saying that. The only thing I'm saying is that we might be able to return Raven back and then have her help us as well." Beast Boy gravely replied.

"That wouldn't work." A female voice came from behind them. They turned to see Chain there. "Raven's evil because the dark side inherited from her father at birth has been released. The only way to return Raven to normal is to tear the dark side out of her, and the only way to do that is to destroy Trigon. It's either that or we'll be forced to kill Raven." Chain grimly stated.

"But what good will that do if we kill her?!" Beast Boy cried. "Trigon will still be there as strong as ever!"  
  


"Yes he will still be there, but the loss of Raven would decrease his power, making him les dangerous."

"Hey, I thought demons had 13 lives? Wanna fill in the blanks there?" Cy requested.

"No blanks. We'd have to kill her 13 times, or just cut off her head and bury it on holy ground." Chain responded.

"Uh, correction, it'd be 12 times. Raven's already died once at the hands of Slade, and boy did he pay for it. Um, do we have any holy ground left around here?" Beast Boy gave a nervous smile.

"Who's Slade?" Chain retorted.

"Only our resident bad guy when a huge demon bent on destroying the world's not in town." Beast Boy added.

"You might want to work on those jokes."

~+~+~+~+~

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY GOT AWAY?!?!" Trigon was angry, and didn't Raven know it. "I GIVE YOU A SIMPLE TASK AND YOU CAN'T EVEN DO THAT! HOW ARE YOU EVER GOING TO BE SOME USE TO ME ?!?!" Trigon bellowed across his courtroom, the little minion demons running in terror.

"Um, I could help you take over the world. Superheroes really are nasty things." Raven sarcastically muttered under her breath. Trigon's hearing was good. He picked up what she said, and roared a cry that shook Jump City down to the core. The prisoners on the other side of the City and even the Titans heard the thunderous cry that rocked the city.

Eventually, with a grunt of disgust, Trigon sat down again. "We will attack the Tower at dawn." He growled.

With a look of equal disgust, Raven turned towards the East, where out in the bay, she could see Titans Tower. _Just wait Titans. I will destroy you, and prove my worth to my father. _

Dawn couldn't come soon enough for Raven.

~+~+~+~+~

_~ The body lying in snow so cold._

_The foreboding evil, of stories untold._

_Flying high, up to the red skies._

_Soaring down, connected by family ties._

_For they will try to return,_

_But she will never learn._

_She is the one, Trigon's Daughter._

_She will kill them all, like lambs to the slaughter. ~_

Starfire wouldn't leave Robin's side when he awoke. Despite still recovering from his various scrapes and grazes, he seemed okay, appreciating Starfire's endless loyalty. 

"Oh Robin! It is good that you are not too badly damaged! Tell me, how are you feeling?" Star excitedly burst out with many questions as soon as Robin's still tired eyes opened.

"I'll be okay Star. Soon. How is everyone else doing?" Robin wearily asked.

"Oh, someone new has come to help us!"

"They have?" Robin now looked even more baffled at the prospect awaiting them. 

"Yes! You must come and meet her!" Star's green eyes were alight with excitement, life and love.  

_She really has a thing for me. Wonder how I would ever explain it to Batman. 'Oh by the way my girlfriend's an alien.' Wait did I just say that? _Robin battled with these thoughts whilst Starfire examined Robin's arm, the cut covered with a crimson crust of dried blood.

"Ya know that's probably gonna going to leave a scar." Robin and Starfire looked up to see the ever trendy Moonfire, who was getting a couple of Band Aids. "But then again, you've been looking after him well, haven't you babe?" She smiled, as Starfire blushed ever so slightly. 

"Oh come on, you know it's _sooo _obvious that Star likes him." Sunafire's warm hearted smile came from the doorway, as Starfire violently blushed a lovely cherry red. "Oh, sorry sis, that is a bit embarrassing." Sunafire sheepishly sauntered into the room, retrieving the book she'd left on the side. 

"Come on babe, we'd better go. I think your lover boy is waiting….." Moonfire grinned, and quickly shot out of the room.

"Lover boy?…"Suna thought for a minute.  MOONFIRE! GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE NOW!" Sunafire's shouts echoed back down the hallway, as she realised what her sister had meant, and gave chase.

"What was that all about?" Robin asked. To his surprise, Starfire giggled, then replied.

"Sunafire has, what is it again, a 'thing' for Firgu, correct?" She giggled again, her peals of laughter echoing across the room. 

"She has a crush on Raven's big brother?" Robin thought for a minute, then cracked up with laughter as well. The two chuckled together for a while, before Starfire got up to leave. 

"I had better go back Robin. Cyborg and Beast Boy are planning on how to defeat Raven." Star smiled yet again, before gathering the pile of books she had left on the table nearby.

"Why do I get the feeling that you've been in Raven room again?" Star blushed, before admitting to it.

"Yes, but only so that we may look up some more information on Raven and Trigon. Perhaps we will find a weakness?" 

Starfire held about 10 books as she walked towards the door. As she leant down to press the button to open the exit, several books moved forward nearly slid off, had Robin not caught them.

"But Robin, you are ill yes?" Star asked whilst readjusting her pile

"I was tired, and had a pretty sore arm. It'll take a while for my arm to heal, but I needed a few days rest. I'll cope." Robin gave a warm hearted smile, and took half of Star's pile.

"Come on." He grinned, and led the way out of the door.

~+~+~+~+~

"Dawn has arrived father." Raven hissed.

"And the Titans are still recovering from your last attack on them. Perhaps you haven't failed me. Torturing your enemies, then destroying them is such a lovely way. They are weak now, thanks to your efforts, and now I can easily stomp them out of the equation." Trigon gave a evil, cruel smile.

_Yes. I have proved my worth to him. Now he will love me, and give me praise._ Raven was pleased with her success. _Time to eliminate my only drawback._

Raven's heartless, merciless smirk never left her face as she followed her father to the bay.

It was time.

~+~+~+~+~

_~ For now is now, and now is then._

_Evil has come, it's ranks times ten._

_She is the one, Trigon's Daughter._

_She will kill them all like lambs to the slaughter._

_Trigon's Daughter. ~_

In the main room, people were flicking through books and typing on keyboards. Not much info had been found, although Beast Boy had discovered that Trigon's main weakness was the gem in the middle of his forehead. His other main weakness was his actual head, so they were going to have to aim for the head when they came up against Trigon himself.

Everyone looked up when a huge bang went up outside, and the tower shook violently.

"What the heck was that?" Robin asked whilst scrambling to his feet.

The glass of the main window was shattered in one clean swoop, glass flying everywhere. Trigon's huge face appeared where the glass had been, followed by the shadow of Raven dropping through a portal from the roof. 

"Oh no." Beast Boy froze. Raven smiled, then hissed back at him.

"Oh yes." 

~+~+~+~+~

Gothic: Okay so that was Jinx's line at the end there, but it goes well with the scene. If anyone would like to see a picture I've drawn of Chain, please leave me a review saying so, and I'll email the piccie to you. ( I'll need your email address for that though…..)

Kitty: We've upgraded yet again. This chappie came to a grand total of 4,073 words. Good huh?

Evil Raven: Either you review, or I kill the Titans and you as well!

Gothic: Oi! Stop threatening my readers! And please review!


	10. Wishes

**Shangri-la**

Gothic: Is there going to be a sequel? Will Jinx sue me for using her line? Will I remember to reveal Sunafire's powers? (Sunafire's powers are the best, so I've saved them 'til this chappie.) Why can't I find the right poem for this chapter in my writing book? I go back to school tomorrow, and they've blocked ff.net on the school computers! Why! *melodramatics and fake tears*

Kitty: Gothic does not own the Teen Titans, and look out for another one of her poems coming soon, when she gets around to writing it!

Evil Raven: I am about to destroy the Titans! MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! 

Draygion: Why do you have to laugh like that?!?!  
  


Evil Raven: Um, I'm evil? Duh.

Gothic: Great. Now those two will be going at each other all the way through the fic. Oh, and the full potential relationship of StarxRobin will be in this chappie! I've planned BBxRae for later, so enjoy StarxRobin for now! On with the ficcie!

~+~+~+~+~

 Everyone looked up when a huge bang went up outside, and the tower shook violently.

"What the heck was that?" Robin asked whilst scrambling to his feet.

The glass of the main window was shattered in one clean swoop, glass flying everywhere. Trigon's huge face appeared where the glass had been, followed by the shadow of Raven dropping through a portal from the roof. 

"Oh no." Beast Boy froze. Raven smiled, then hissed back at him.

"Oh yes." 

"TITANS! GO! HOLD OFF RAVEN AND GO FOR TRIGON!" Robin yelled his commands to the terrified teens around him, before launching himself into battle with Raven.

"I just knew you'd say something like that." Raven sarcastically remarked, dodging Robin oncoming attack. "But still, there's an advantage knowing your battle strategy."

"Shut up and fight me!" Robin angrily drew out his staff, and pushed the end towards Raven. She ducked out of the way, before swinging her arm back again to get a direct hit on the side of his head. Robin went down in agony.

"I don't want to fight you anymore. I want to fight someone else, that's more of a challenge." Raven shrugged her shoulders, then flew upwards to the roof through another portal.

Trigon meanwhile had Starfire and her sisters on the run, as well as Cyborg and the rest of the Trigon 5. They were attacking Trigon whilst Robin and everyone else provided the distraction they needed. Chain meanwhile was busy planning how to get to Trigon and do some serious damage. Her weapon was no ordinary chain, it was highly charged by her demonic powers. She would hurt Trigon, or at least do him some damage.

"Hey? Where Raven? She was here a minute ago?" Sweetfire asked whilst recovering from a back slash Trigon had thrown at her.

"Disappeared upwards through a portal. This is really starting to piss me off." Sunafire added, whilst also recovering from a heat eye beam that had nearly badly burnt her arm.

"If she went upwards, then it's likely she's on the roof. Waiting for an opponent, no doubt." Draygion commented, whilst fighting off demon ravens Trigon had blasted at him.

_The roof huh? Waiting for an opponent? Well that opponent is going to be me, and I'll make sure she goes down. Without hurting her too much that is._ Beast Boy thoughtfully ducked away from several ravens, and quickly darted for the exit. He made his way to the staircase leading to the roof, and carefully began to make his way up. He could see the red skies still, and the horns of Trigon sticking up from the open door at the top. Raven was nowhere in sight.

~+~+~+~+~

Back in the main room, Trigon was slowly but surely beating his adversary. The room itself was a wreck, and the ceiling above beginning to

collapse. Pieces of rubble, mortar and plaster were starting to crumble away, creating a dangerous battlefield for the Titans.

"Robin! Robin! Are you alright?" Aqualad fought his way through to where Starfire was carefully protecting the unconscious Robin. "Starfire! It's

getting too dangerous to fight in here any longer! The place is falling in on us! Come on, we have to get out!"

"But Robin is not awake! How can we get him out? And there is no open exit!" Starfire blasted a raven away, before tending once more to the clean gash Raven had sliced across the right of his head.

"Hey! Where's BB? And what happened to Robin?" Cyborg made his grand entrance on the scene, now blasting at Trigon's head. Trigon merely moved his head sideways, the cannon not even touching him.

"Raven knocked Robin out. And I haven't a clue as to where Beast Boy is." Firgu answered from beside him.

"Oh man! We're getting our asses kicked! Com' on, we gotta try sumthin' else! I hate these damn ravens!" Cy complained whilst fighting off a fresh attack from Trigon.

"Worthless Titans! You are not a threat to me! Prepare to feel my wrath!" Trigon unleashed a fireball, nearly destroying the entire room, and leaving a huge hole in the centre of the room. 

"Watch out! Starfire! Robin!" Draygion shouted as the floor dissolved away in the direction of the two. Starfire was not quick enough to move as the floor collapsed beneath her. Starfire and the unconscious Robin plunged down several floors through the hole, Starfire's screams echoing back up.

"Star…." Cyborg froze for a minute, a tear dropping from his eye. "Robin…."

"MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Trigon triumphantly laughed, before throwing a second fireball at the unwary teens. "SEE HOW EASILY I CAN DEFEAT YOU!" He watched the startled Titans either levitate in fright or run for cover. Moonfire and Sunafire were badly burned, Draygion narrowly escaping being fried to death as the fireball hurtled straight for him.

"Okay that's it! I've had enough of you! Ow….. " Sunafire angrily turned towards Trigon.

  
"Heh, heh, heh. Do you really think you stand a chance of defeating me?" Trigon, amused, chuckled.

  
"This time, you are going down!" Sunafire closed her eyes and whispered strange words. As if they were stand beside it, the sounds of the sea reached their ears. Joyful thoughts of Trigon destroyed and this world restored came to her mind. As she opened her eyes, they glowed a bright white. Her hands glowed as she whispered three words loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Sinoto, Grathios, Drasin." She released a bright white Sunabolt from her left hand, as Trigon withdrawed in surprise.

"A Spirit Guide? But, that is impossible…." He gasped in surprise.

"Oh that's very possible. Only two are born once every century, and I am one of the two. So…" She smiled. "You have a problem."

For a minute Trigon added up his odds. Then, he laughed once more. "Heh, heh, heh. So what if you're a Spirit Guide? I am the most powerful demon in the 1000 Dimensions!"

"I don't think so." 

Trigon looked up so see Chain there. He stared for a minute, then spoke in the most harrowing voice yet to be heard. 

"You…." 4 eyes narrowed in disgust. "You again…..This time you are _dead._" 

"And I'm so scared. Take this demon boy." Chain, wielding her chain, swung it for the gem. As she was in mid air, being able to levitate like any other demon, she got a direct hit. The gem shattered, into a thousand pieces, drawing black blood where the gem had been. Trigon howled to the skies in pain and rage.

"Cool. Now that's neat." Sunstar remarked from beside Cyborg.

Where's the door to the roof?" Chain asked

~+~+~+~+~

Up on the roof, Beast Boy had ended up being involved in a combat with Raven. He had found her standing by the edge of the tower, looking down. When she had detected him close by, Rae had spun around, and the fight had spiralled from there. Strangely enough for Beast Boy, he didn't want to fight Raven, something  inside of him not wanting to fight her. However much he told himself that this was not the Raven he knew, he couldn't get it into his head, and the feeling of not wanting to fight her inside remained.

He had tried to fight it, but fighting your feelings about the enemy you're fighting at the same time was not easy. He had now landed himself in the shit, as Raven had him flat on his back, and had pinned the changeling to the ground. He could of shape shifted, and got away from her, but that thought never reached his brain.

"You are more pathetic than that puny human. Why am I wasting my time on you?" Raven sneered.

"Uh, you wanted an opponent?" Beast Boy nervously replied. He was shocked at the reaction from Raven. Suddenly, as she heard this remark, she froze. It triggered memories, thoughts feelings, that ran circles round Raven's mind. She screamed and backed off from Beast Boy, clutching her head in seemingly painful thoughts. 

"Rae? What's happening to you?" Beast Boy scrambled to his feet, and crawled over to where Raven had collapsed onto the floor. For Beast Boy's one joke, however corny, had tapped into the one spark of humanity left in Raven, and ignited that spark. Overcome by the sudden onslaught of memories, that told of what she had been, the moody goth, the day she had found true friends in Beast Boy and Cyborg, the time she had found her brother, overloaded her already crowded brain. Mingled in with these memories was the painful feelings, the joys and sadness, the pain of when she had found Arella, the fears of defeating her dark side the first time. The feelings came back to her, the feeling of being able to talk with her friends, the feelings of safety and warmth. It was too much for her to take, the darkness within beginning to become unstable. 

"Raven! Talk to me! What's happening to you! Why are you in pain?" Beast Boy, upon reaching Raven, carefully pulled back her hood. She didn't complain, her thoughts preoccupied with other matters. Her black hair flowed down her back, reaching the floor almost, as it seemed to of grown a lot in the last few days. The traumatised demon was in pain, darkness fighting light. The darkness would eventually win, but not before Raven went through a lot of pain, as the human in her wasn't going to give up that easily. If anyone could help her, it was going to be Chain, but Chain was currently held up making her way up. 

"Hey! What's happening?!?!" Chain shouted making her way across the helicopter pad. "How did this happen?" She gasped in realisation.

"You know what happening to Rae?" Beast Boy asked.

"You must have released her human side. Somehow. There's a huge battle going on in her head, with her dark side fighting against her human side." Chain knelt in front of her old friend, examining her pale, frightened eyes. "She doesn't have much time left. I have to get in there, or her dark side will take over completely. We'll never get her back." Chain's desperate expression sparked a few fears in Beast Boy, worry for his friend dominating his thoughts.

"Um, how did I release her human side?" 

"You must of said something she recognised before this happened. You've probably saved her, 'cause it's now that she's at her weakest."  
  
"I told a joke. And I always joke at least 10 times a day." Beast Boy crept further forward, praying that Raven would be all right.

"You do tell a lot of jokes. She probably recognised that joke as you, helping Raven's human side to come out. Now, lay her down on her back. Yes like that."

Beast Boy did as the demon commanded, feeling worried and slightly joyful.

"I'm going to go into her mind." Chain continued. "Come around behind me and catch my body when I enter. Lay me down like you have Raven." Chain closed her eyes and concentrated as Beast Boy scooted around behind her. Then, the reality of Chain's world faded, as she found herself in Raven's mind. The figure of Raven pure, and in white fighting the dark Raven, the Raven everyone could see on the outside at the moment. The red skies ruled against the shadow of the moon, many rocks being destroyed and torn apart in the raging battle. 

"Raven! Raven it's me Chain. I've come to help you!" Chain could do nothing but watch, as the pure Raven was put down, time after time, the darkness winning against the light.

"I do not need your help!" The darkness hissed, turning red glowing eyes to face Chain.

"I am here to help her." Chain spoke as if quoting from a scripture book. "And together, we will defeat you." 

"You do not stand a chance!" The dark Raven turned to throw fireballs, like her father, at Chain.

"Leave her alone!" Raven stood up before the darkness threatening to consume her. "I will not let you win this time!" 

And together, friends standing by each other, Raven and Chain began to fight back.

~+~+~+~+~

Outside, in reality, Beast Boy was starting to get very anxious. Long ago, he had caught Chain seemingly lifeless body, and carefully laid her body down. He had then watched Raven begin to shake, before her eyes finally shut, and the battle for control began.

"Come on Chain, you can do it. Help Rae fight this darkness." He sat down once again, before a blast could be heard below, and the building shook and shivered. He had almost forgotten about the battle still going on below  

"Right. Trigon's still at it with the others. Hope they're coping alright."

The others weren't alright at all. Trigon had them on the run, and there was no sign of Starfire or Robin. At the moment, Trigon was holding Cyborg between two fingers, and laughing, amused at the helpless struggling of Cyborg. The blast that had shook the building had been Cyborg trying to shoot Trigon's grasp on him. Trigon just positioned Cy so that he shot at the tower instead of at the demon.

"Let him go!" Suna shouted whilst throwing another Sunabolt. This hit Trigon hand, and he dropped Cy to examine the fresh burn on his hand.

"You will pay for that!" Trigon bellowed. With this cry, he shot a fireball at the nearest available target, this happened to be Sunafire.  She was also not quick enough to move out of the way, and would of suffered a similar fate to her sister had Firgu not darted down and snatched her out of the way. She was terrified, not letting go of her saviour for a minute, who comforted Sunafire, hugging and speaking soothing words to her. Had the situation not been so serious, Moonfire would have teased her little sister.

Zuthion meanwhile, was having a slight problem. With Trigon being her father, she was bound to him by blood. This meant that she could not do any real damage. Sadly, this only affected her, as she was a half demon. So, right now, she was trying to avoid several hundred fireballs coming her way.

"Start wishing everyone! It's gonna take a miracle to win this battle!" Cyborg shouted encouragement, whilst trying to get to his feet. But he was too tired, as was everyone else still there. The tower was close to caving in, the foundations beginning to give way, and the more solid parts of the building starting to crumble and become unstable.

"Victory is mine!" Trigon cried to the blood red skies.

Everything, it seemed, was lost.

Except for the miracle that was about to happen.

~+~+~+~+~

Deep inside Raven's mind, Chain and the pure Raven were at odds with the enemy. They had been fighting for what had seemed like a lifetime, no real advantage coming to their use. But, slowly but surely, the two friends were winning. 

"You cannot defeat me! I am you, and always will be!" The cruel laughter of what had been Raven for too long echoed into the darkness.

"You are going back where you belong!" Raven shot her black and white aura, challenging her opposition. She succeeded in blasting the darkness away from her, and knocking her vision for a minute. This allowed Chain to come up behind and smash her chain whip into the darkness's back. She howled in pain, and shot her fireballs randomly into the air, almost hitting Chain. The dark Raven unleashed her ultimate weapon, - the darkness itself. She blasted Chain, and then hit the pure Raven. She dominated the battlefield, not wary of what was about to happen.

Outside, Beast Boy was still watching the two demons. He had watched Raven's expression change from triumphant to saddened losses, and right now her 4 still demon eyes were pale and frightened looking still. She was shaking, and clearly losing the battle going on inside her head. Beast Boy crept closer to her body, and carefully stroked the pale cheek of his once friend. 

"Come on Rae, I know you can do this. I have faith in you. I'll never leave you." Beast Boy's words were from the heart. And even though he whispered them, Raven heard the words, and felt his affection. And deep down inside the pureness of her heart, Raven suddenly realised.

Beast Boy liked her, - as more than a friend. If she was correct, then Beast Boy _fancied her._

This was a bit of a shock to Raven for a start, but then the reality settled in.

He was with her.

He had faith in her.

And she wasn't giving up anytime soon. 

It was time to claim what was hers.

~+~+~+~+~

Gothic: *sobs uncontrollably and cries* I will say it now! BB 4 RAE 4 EVA!!! And if writing that last part made me cry, then what's going to happen when I get to the real _lurve_ parts?

Kitty: We know this is a short chapter, just over 3,000 words, but the next chappie will be longer, we promise.

BB: I love Raven…..

Every Titan: WE ALL KNOW THAT!!! 

BB: *embarrassed* Uh, justreviewandGothicwillbehappyandthenRavenwillnotkillmeandwherehaveRobinandStargone? 

Gothic: I will work on the whole 'love' thing between RobinxStar and BBxRae. There's also gonna be a little romance between SunaxFirgu, making the romance front much more interesting. So, if you review, I will update quicker. Next chappie up soon if you lovely readers review. =^_^=


	11. Trigon's Last Stand

**Shangri-la**

****

Gothic: On the 2/1/04, I finally reached 40 reviews on Shangri-la, so I will take the time now to send my endless worshipping thanks and praise to all of you who have been with me on this fic. It really means a lot to me guys! =^_^= This is the chapter that will decide the fate of the world, - and I'm writing it past my computer time 'cause I got nothing better to do.  So, without further ado, I give you Trigon's Last Stand.

Kitty: Gothic doesn't own the Teen Titans. They belong to DC Comics, if my computer knowledge is correct. Oh, and we're feeling guilty Shattered Life, so don't fail your next test!

Gothic: There, there, now, it's okay to offend Gothic, and call her a bitch…. She knows how much of a scheming little moody cow she can be….

Beast Boy: *drooling over Raven* She's so sexy….

All other Titans: *nervously back away*

Gothic: Lets get this fic on the road, before the Titans lock Beast Boy up! And there is going to be some serious StarxRobin in this chappie!

~+~+~+~+~

Titans Tower was violently unstable. The never-ending battle had shaken the tower to its roots, and now it was about ready to collapse. Trigon had unleashed everything he had upon the Titans, and yet they still stood strong, ready to fight to the death. But Trigon wasn't fighting the Titans at that moment. He was dealing with other 'personal' problems that involved a certain unconscious daughter of his.

_I'm losing my control over her. She's breaking free again, trying to fight back. Well, she's not getting away this time. I have to get to her, and fill her with my evil once more. _Trigon ducked a cannon blast from Cyborg, then went back to his musings, scratching away a crust of dried blood from where his gem had been smashed in. _I know she's further up, on the roof, but if I leave now, the Titans will surprise attack me, I know they will._

Cyborg was one of the few Titans left going, along with the alien sisters, and Raven's siblings. They had seen the battle through to the end, but Cy was still worried about Star and Robin.

_I hope they're alright. Then again, they could be dead somewhere, or dying a slow and painful death._ He grimly thought. _And we're responsible._

~+~+~+~+~

Starfire and Robin were alive, - having fallen through almost 10 stories. Starfire had pulled herself together, and grabbed Robin, but she was too weak to fly. Instead, she managed to slow them down, practically saving their lives, and at the least lessening their injuries. Robin had been badly wounded enough, but he had been unconscious since crash landing. Star had been knocked out, but recovered after a while. She had tended to Robin, and the two now lay together in the caverns of the island underneath the very rickety tower. Robin was conscious, and not conscious, mainly in a half awake half asleep state. But, as the minutes passed, he grew more and more alert, his eyes constantly flicking around him.

"Hello? Can anyone here me?!?!" Starfire shouted up the hole they had fallen down as best as she could, brushing the flecks of dust that fell down into her eyes away. 

"Uh, Star. I don' t think they can hear you." Robin called from where he was staggering into consciousness. 

"Robin! You are not damaged?" Star joyously bounded over to where Robin had half managed to sit up.

"Working on it. I'm still pretty shaken up from that fall, but I should be fine, again." Robin was nearly able to stand, but his legs gave way and he fell backwards. Star caught him from behind, whilst on her side, so that she was lying beside him, one arm supporting Robin, and the other supporting her position. Robin accepted her help, mainly using her to help get a comfortable spot. This pulled her closer to him, so that they were face to face. 

For a minute, they stared half longingly into each other's eyes. Then Robin leaned up, and softly kissed Star on the lips. He was going to pull away again, when Starfire kissed back, putting her arms around him. For a minute they just passionately kissed, enjoying the love that they had found. Robin pulled Star closer to him, so that she was practically on top of him, the kisses deepening. 

Then Starfire realised what she was doing. She backed off, retaking her place at his side. 

"Star what's wrong?" Robin curiously asked, missing the warmth of her kisses.

"But Robin, you are so badly damaged, so how can we do this?" Star was clearly confused, afraid that by kissing him, she was hurting him. Robin saw this, and began working out the best way to explain the situation to her. 

"Look, Star, It doesn't hurt me. Quite the opposite. It's only a headache, and a few cuts, and I'm just a bit tired." Robin noted the worried look in her eyes, and hugged her.

"You are sure it does not damage you?" Star asked.

"Sure." Robin answered.

Starfire smiled. Then she kissed him again. Robin responded by pulling her in close again, kissing back passionately and lovingly. They found something neither had ever experienced before, the love of each other. Tongue kissing was definitely the main 'activity' going on, Star adjusting to this newfound way of life on Earth. 

A huge bang rumbled down to the two, causing them to break apart and look up in fright and curiosity. 

"What was that?" Star trembled nervously.

"Looks like our resident demon bad guy doesn't know when to quit." Robin grimly reminded them of the current circumstances above.

The two managed to get to their feet, Star supporting Robin, and helping him along. For as Robin had clearly stated, it was too dangerous for them to stay down there in the cavern. Bit by bit, they began to climb upwards, heading for the tower, - or rather what was left of it.

~+~+~+~+~

Beast Boy was, temporarily, positioned as far away from the edge of the building as possible. The battles in reality and fantasy had both managed to put everyone's lives in danger, Raven and Chain apparently slowly losing the battle that was going on. 

Beast Boy was extremely worried by now, always by Raven's side. Her eyes were forever pale red, but the hand Beast Boy held would squeeze his own every so often. He had no idea if this was because she was trying to communicate with him, or just reacting randomly because of what was happening in her troubled mind. Right now, he was pretty certain Raven was trying to tell him something.

"Come on Rae! Are you trying to tell me something or what? I don't get it!" Beast Boy was shocked when Raven answered him, - telepathically.

_Yes, I am trying to tell you something. I gathered you're worried, but go and help the others. If you don't defeat Trigon, I'll be like this forever. So, if you want the old Raven back, go and help the others defeat Trigon._

"Okay, that's a very scary way to talk to me." Beast Boy half fell backwards, then scrambled forward again.

_Um, I'm a telepath. I may be in a coma state, but my brain is still functioning._

"That's freaky. But still, I'll go." Beast Boy, gathering that the only way Raven would come back was to defeat Trigon. 

_Oh, and remember, his head is his weakness._

"Yeah. I'll remember." Beast Boy smiled, " Remind me to learn more about that telepathy stuff." He then transformed into an eagle to swoop downwards to help.  

Trigon was going down.

Big time.

~+~+~+~+~

Trigon, the big bad demon, wasn't very pleased. 

 He had expected better results by now. Why would the damned Titans just go down? He had beaten them down into the ground, and yet they still came back. __

_Time to finish this pathetic lot off. There's not much of them now, and their little leader's gone down with his little girlfriend. The Titans will be history! With these thoughts. _Trigon began aiming to bring Titans down for good. And he was going to start by removing that annoying little robot from the surface of this planet. 

"Oh, Cyborg…It's time for you to die…." The angry demon hissed.

"Uh, dude. That is so not happening. " Trigon looked up to see Beast Boy standing on his head, looking down into his eyes.  

"HHHRRRRAAAGGGGHHHHH!!!" Trigon lunged for Beast Boy, who quickly flipped off his head, turned into an eagle, and swooped for his eyes. A gloopy liquid, the colour of pus dripped out of the holes where Trigon's eyes had once been, as the demon howled in pain and rage. Blinded, he had lost one of the most vital senses a demon needed to succeed in life. 

"Nice work BB! That oversized demon is nothin' we can't handle now!"  Cyborg shouted in triumph.

The Titans, rejuvenated, rushed forward to finish Trigon off. They had to go for it now, or they might not be able to do it if Trigon got away.

They charged onwards and forwards into danger, power and above all into what was life for them. If they died now, it would be knowing that they had tried their best to defeat Trigon, but just hadn't been successful. It was time for the fighting to really begin.

~+~+~+~+~

Whilst all of this sudden rush of fighting was taking place, Robin and Star were up to the naughtiest of things, and not the most prioritised things either. The two had made their way up so far, reaching the entrance out of the tunnels that led underneath the tower. It was here that there was a bench for one to rest on, - and where Robin and Star were sharing the most fervent of smoochies. With Robin actually seated, and Star in a straddled position on top of him, they were in a world of their own, lost in passion, and the intense delight of losing themselves to the world around them. 

It was when a howl of rage from Trigon echoed down to them, that Robin and Starfire broke away from each other. Looking up in fright, both were glad that they had each other. 

"We had better go. The others will want our help." Robin held onto Star as he spoke, nuzzling her neck and leaving a trail of light kisses down it. Starfire giggled, her arms around Robin shoulders. 

"Yes, we should go back up to help the others. We will come back to this yes?"   

"Yeah, but right now we need to help." Robin gradually shook Star off him, and they began to make their way up, bangs exploding all around the tower outside, and sending shockwaves down the very core of the island.  

"Looks like the others could use our assistance." Robin gave Star a fast kiss on the cheek. "Come on."  
  


~+~+~+~+~

Deep inside the depths of Raven's mind, the battle for sanity, life, and freedom, was taking an unexpected twist. The darkness had dominated the playing field, and had been preparing to complete it's destruction of the pure Raven forever, - killing Chain in the process. And despite Raven's best efforts, it just wasn't enough to eliminate the darkness she had been carrying with her for nearly 16 years. 

"It is time…for my reign over the half demon to begin!" 

"Not if I can help it." Came Chain's worn voice from behind. Chain badly needed medical attention now, a cut shining wet with blood across her forehead, another wound scratched across her stomach. In short, she was in a bad way.

"You! Why won't you just lay down and scream in peace?!?!" The darkness screeched.

"Because I care about what happens to Raven, and I don't go down easy." Chain replied.

"Then prepare to go down in flames as I rip the still beating heart out of you!" With this, the evil darkness lunged for Chain, and grabbed her by the throat. With quick speed and agility, the darkness straddled the dazed demon, and began to throttle her.

 Chain choked, and grabbed for her throat, desperately trying to get the dark Raven off her. When nothing worked, she went limp, her heart still beating, but Chain's mind unconscious.

"Heh, heh, heh. Watch, dear purity, as I murder your best friend, and show you her heart!" Had the darkness not taken the time to laugh and mock the equally stunned pure Raven, she might of seen the next actions taken.  But lost in power, darkness and the very essence of Trigon himself, the dark Raven saw no opposition coming….

Until it happened.

The darkness aimed for Chain's chest, amidst strangled cries from Raven.  As she was about to plunge her hand into the unconscious demon, her arm was grabbed and forced back so hard, - that it broke.

"Eat on that sucker." Chain's voice was determined, focused, and she knew what she was doing.  For the demon had not been knocked out at all, just pretending, to catch the darkness off guard. 

The Dark Raven staggered away, black blood spilling from where Chain's grip had drawn cuts across her wrist and forearm. She howled, and cried, the power she had been receiving from Trigon cut off.

And oh how Trigon felt it.

~+~+~+~+~

Below the two demon bodies, Robin and Starfire had finally arrived on the scene. After witnessing Cyborg crying tears of relief that they were alive, all of the remaining Titans stood up to defeat Trigon once and for all. But he wasn't attempting to kill them now, his empty eye sockets were staring at the blood red skies, murmuring strange words.

"What is he doing? Has he cracked or something?" Robin whispered to Cyborg.

"No, he's losing influence over Raven. Chain must be helping out big time. It's up to us, we have to beat Trigon now." Firgu half whispered back.

"So what, we launch a huge attack on him? He's practically destroyed the tower, and I'm running out of ideas." Beast Boy quietly asked.

Yes, a stealthy attack. Here's what we're gonna do…" 

For the next 10 minutes, the teens worked out a plan. Then, everyone carefully moved positions to where they were supposed to be, and waited on Firgu and Robin's orders to attack.

For two whole minutes, though it felt like a lifetime, nobody moved, nobody spoke, nobody breathed. They merely waited, like they had done on that fateful night trying to save Draygion, when all this had really begun. Then, at long last, Robin spoke.

"West side, East side. ATTACK!!!" Robin launched himself out with the teens on the West side of the tower, the teens of the North and south sides still awaiting orders.

"Titans! Take him down!" Robin cried, whilst flying several feet into the air, kicking Trigon full on in the teeth. Two of his fangs shattered into pieces, and three other broke off and splintered. 

Star charges after Robin, throwing Starbolts at the remains of the gem and the surrounding areas. Blood spilled from old wounds and new, falling down his face. Unable to see, Trigon couldn't locate the fast Starfire, waving around wildly, until the alien hit him, and he clung to his face in pain. 

"North side, South side. ATTACK!!" Firgu and his comrades charged form their hideouts, throwing whatever means possible. For the next 20 minutes, Trigon was beaten into the ground, people, demons, aliens and creatures of the deep sea throwing everything they had at the blind demon. Blood dripped everywhere, rubies on the little clothing he wore were shattered, his fangs were kicked out and left as sharp stubs, and Aqualad even threw his tired self at Trigon, and managed to break his nose. Slowly, bit by bit, the heroes were crawling their way back up.

Unknowing that above them, on the rooftop,  a pure miracle was taking place. 

~+~+~+~+~

Back inside Raven's still deeply troubled mind, the darkness was feeling the pain her father felt. The dark Raven was losing power, and beginning to weaken. The devastating assault on Trigon had helped the purity of Raven to regain control, and she was ready to wrap this up. Eventually, with all the strikes being thrown to Trigon going on below, Raven and Chain began to fight.

Blow after blow from the chain whip brought the darkness to her knees. Punch after punch from Raven had the dark side collapsed on her side, pain rushing through her. 

 Raven felt the energy from the world outside, and began to summon her powers. She levitated the darkness that was now howling in pain, and flung her into the nearest rock. 

"Get….out…of….my…mind…NOW!" Raven threw everything she had at the darkness within.

And felt the light as she finally managed to regain at least some control.

~+~+~+~+~

Below, in the mass destruction of Trigon, the angry demon had at last retaliated by throwing open a portal that released several demon minions. They obeyed their blinded, badly wounded master and charged for the Titans.

"Now we will see who is the better! DIE YOU PATHETIC BEASTS!" Trigon cried to the skies, causing demon ravens, who lived to serve as prison guards on  the other side of the city, to take to the skies in fright.

"Get to his head!!"  Firgu shouted. But in his haste he didn't see the demon who crept up behind him.

And slashed the bloody sword it held right through Firgu's head. 

"FIRGU! FIRGU!" Sifria dropped to her knees, tears falling from her eyes. Although she was a pure blooded demon, Sifria had learnt the ways of the human, how they showed emotion and compassion.

But above all, she loved her brother, - and wasn't afraid to show it.

Sunafire meanwhile, reacted different. Her clenched fist shook with rage, as she turned towards Trigon. 

"You killed him…." She spoke in a just audible tone, her voice itself harrowing in her wrath. "And now you will pay for it."

Sunafire released her powers in a blast of fury, her body enveloped in a bright white light. She shot a beam of the light that would conquer the darkness, and threw everything she had at him in rage and sadness. 

Trigon withered and cried as the immense power caused the tower to completely collapse. The two bodies of Raven and Chain fell downwards as the roof caved in.

"Raven and Chain! They're on the roof! We gotta catch them!" Beast cried, whilst dashing forward to catch one of the two. Raven's body landed square in his arms, Cyborg catching the unconscious Chain. Then, the Teen Titans rushed forward and out of the tower, with the exception of Sunafire, whose powers seemed to protect her. Amongst the ruins of Titans Tower, the alien stood like an angel, fighting back Trigon.

"Look! The skies! They are being painted blue again!" Starfire cried, excitedly pointing upwards in delight, as Beast Boy and Cyborg carefully put Raven and Chain down where they would be safe.

"Sunafire's winning." Moonfire commented, whilst stroking the cheek of the dead demon Firgu. Moonfire had grabbed Firgu, and now protected his blood stained body as if he was alive. It was the kindest thing to her sister to allow her to say goodbye to Firgu.

"Go back to where you belong! Sunafire cried, throwing everything she had at Trigon. 

Trigon bellowed a cry of absolute agony, worming and struggling to get out of this death trap.

Sunafire threw everything  she had every ounce of spiritual energy being thrown at Trigon, who was beginning to shrink , as his body withered away to ashes, the black transparent ghost of his former self howling a ghostly cry in defeat.

Trigon the Terrible, one of the most powerful demons known, was dead.

And as Trigon finally got the death he so deserved, the smoky wisps flying up to dissolve themselves in the now blue skies, Raven's body glowed a bright white with Sunafire's powers. Her skin exploded in a purple glow, the human eyes and pale violet skin returning. Her clothing faded back to purple and blue, and the gem in the centre of her forehead faded form black, and glowed a proud red again. 

And the others could only watch as the dark side of Raven was torn from her body, howling and crying as it took on the shape of a black ghost like Trigon. It spoke in a harrowing voice, trying desperately to hang onto what it believed was so rightly it's own.

"You cannot escape me! I am who you are, not a problem you can deal away with! You cannot escape who you are!" 

Raven raised her head, the violet eyes shining with anger.

"NO. You are not me. This is who I am. AND YOU CANNOT CONTROL ME ANY LONGER!" 

Sunafire, who had been exhausting her powers for through Trigon's death, and the condemning of Raven's dark side, spoke at long last.

"It's time you joined who you really belong." Sunafire threw what remaining powers were left in her at the dark Raven. The ghost wept for it's 'mistress', before finally disintegrating into no more than scraps of long forgotten power, wisps blowing away on the wind.

And inside Raven, all of the different sides of Raven gathered around as the skies finally shone bright pastel blue at last, the true purity of Raven, in all her glory, standing in the middle.

Raven lifted her head from where she had been on the ground, as Sunafire rested at last.

"Thank you." Raven whispered.

Sunafire smiled. Then she fell sideways, to collapse onto the ground, and take her last breath, as she joined the one she loved, destined to rest at last.

"Sister!" Starfire and Sweetfire ran for their fallen sibling, as Raven turned towards her friends.

"Did that just happen?" Robin asked in shock.

"You have done what was deemed impossible. You have destroyed Trigon, and tore the darkness out of Raven. She is free to express her emotions as she wishes, with nothing in the way." Draygion was solemn, taking in the death of his brother still, as he watched Raven finally manage to get up, back to her old self.

"So….Trigon's really gone?" Cy asked.

"Yes he is." Sifria added from Beast Boy's side.

"And he won't be coming back." Raven finally spoke, also saddened by Firgu's death. She knelt beside him, fresh tears falling down her face onto the body of her older brother. Stroking the blood stained cheek of the red skinned demon, she wished with all her heart that the two who had died to save her hadn't made such a sacrifice. 

"I can't believe Suna's dead….She gave her life and powers to return this world to normal, and destroy Trigon. What a brave Spirit Guide." Moonfire spoke softly, having also joined her sisters.

"Chain….Get out of my head…." Raven spoke with a mocking voice to the still unconscious Chain,  who was still in Raven's mind. With her words, the demon stirred, and blinked open bleary eyes, attempting to sit up. Whilst Sifria helped Chain, Raven turned to Robin, her eyes full of guilt.

"I'm sorry. For both what Trigon has done, and for what  I have done." She did look very guilty, obvious feeling that her evil streak was mainly her fault.

"It wasn't your fault. Trigon influenced you. Who could resist that?" Robin smiled, to which Raven returned the smile.

"But both Firgu and Sunafire are dead. They died because of me." Raven tried, but Robin wasn't having any of it.

"That wasn't you Raven. But you're free now, and you will always be a Titan."

~+~+~+~+~

And as the sun dawned against the light blue skies, the last essence of Trigon vanished, all of his minions and cronies evaporating in the sunlight.

And on the island, where the remains of Titans Tower lay, the body of a alien, who had done the most courageous, brave, valiant thing in her entire life time, was laid to rest, her work finally done.

As the spirit of the Spirit Guide kept ever watch over her city.

~+~+~+~+~

Gothic: *floods of tears* Now that was sad! Why did I let Firgu and Sunafire die? Why did I write 4200 words? Why is my cat waiting outside the back door?

Kitty: Hmmm…….

Gothic: I forgot, for all of you who don't know what my version of a Spirit Guide is, (Which is probably most of my readers….) it's a special alien, who guides restless spirits to their grave. Basically, if a ghost has unfinished business, then he/she will be led to the grave by the Spirit Guide. Kinda like the Grim Reaper, only Spirit Guides are like Slayers, and are only female. And Sunafire gave her life and powers to destroy Trigon, and save Raven. Now she's a restless spirit, keeping watch over the city. (Or rather, what's left of it….)

Raven: I'm not evil anymore! Yay!

BB: I love Raven…..

All Titans: WE KNOW! And please review for Gothic!


	12. Dreams

**Shangri-la**

****

Gothic: You poor souls…..

Would I just end it right there? Okay, I would, but I have more to write! Bring on Dreams! Sorry about the delay on updates, I had a bit of a mental block. 

Kitty: Lets rock and roll! And Gothic owns nothing, except for the computer she's writing on, so don't sue her, - okay?

Raven: Could someone please tie BB up? The scenes he's waiting for come later on.

Trigon 5: It would be our pleasure…..

Gothic: Lets get this chappie underway! Oh, and I added up all my reviews on all my stories and poetry. I never knew I had 125 reviews!

~+~+~+~+~

Across the remains of what had once been a prosperous and beautiful city, the people of Jump City were either in shock or denial. They had heard the cries of Trigon's final defeat, and seen the demons evaporating. What was most shocking was watching the skies fade from red to blue again. 

But it really sucked when the superheroes destroyed the ultimate evil, - and didn't come to save the innocent people still trapped in the disgusting underground cells.

Actually, the Titans were currently working on how they were ever going to rebuild the tower, and the city as well. After a lot of hugging, crying and kissing on all sides, the teens had decided it was time to work on how to restore the city.  Having to find somewhere to sleep was the next question, the tower was lying in ruins after the huge battle between Sunafire and Trigon. Robin was also currently M.I.A.(Missing In Action), due to the fact that he was away in Gotham City visiting his old mentor. Currently, the Titans were lounging on rocks, the ground, and anything else they could find to sit on, discussing what they were going to do. 

"So, we're just gonna lie back and relax for a while?" Beast enquired, whilst perched on a slab. 

"Not much else we can do. The tower is in a heap temporarily, and until the people come back out from al their hiding places, we ain't gonna get anywhere." Cyborg replied, whilst working on the dents of several metal plates.

"Um, where did everyone go anyway?" Sifria asked. "We never saw anyone whilst we were fighting Trigon." 

"Heh. Oppsie." Raven, from where she was lying on another slab looked rather sheepish. "Trigon didn't want anyone getting in the way. So, he kinda locked everyone up in tiny underground cells to the East of the city." She gave a bit of a smile, causing Starfire to fall backwards and crash onto the floor, and Cyborg to drop the metal plate he had in his hand, and equally fall sideward. 

"What? It's a standard bad guy thing." Raven looked confusedly around her.

"You….you smiled….." Beast Boy managed to gasp from where he'd crashed into the pile of rocks behind the slab he was on, and ended up with the rocks on top of him.

"Oh." Raven looked as shocked and speechless as everyone else. "I did?" 

"Maybe we'd better forget the whole 'Raven can smile' thing for now. If she's right, and those people are there, we need to get them out." Sweetfire added from where she was situated across from Starfire.

"That might be a good plan…." Cyborg gulped, retrieving his plate.

"What plan? Did I miss something?" Robin queried from behind them. He was astride a motorcycle, across the path that had once led up to the tower. Holding his helmet underneath one arm, the numerous alien girls had to admit to each other that he did look pretty hot. Other than Starfire, whose thoughts were occupied with Robin. 

"Uh, only the plan to save the poor trapped inhabitants of the city." Cyborg nervously replied, having found his plate once more.

"They were locked up? Where?" Robin inquired, one eyebrow raised in curiosity. "And how come we didn't know this before?" He added.

"Cause you were too busy fighting off Trigon and trying to stop me killing you all to notice." Came a reply from the across the dirt pile.

"O….kay. You were gonna kill us?" A fake smile crossed Beast Boy's face. 

Crickets chirped across the wreckage ground as everyone stared at Beast Boy. Eventually, smiling once more, Raven spoke.

"Uh, I would naturally want to kill you. And I would of, but you stopped Trigon. Which is a shame, cause I was actually looking forward to that." A sarcastic smile accompanied this remark, causing everyone to drop to the floor once more.

"We may need to look at her head….There could be traces of Trigon's influence left in her." Sifria grinned. "And we can't be having that."

"Titans…" Robin began. "We have some people to save."

~+~+~+~+~

Deep underneath a pile of destruction, the only light faintly shining from a tiny gap above, Slade was next to death. After lying there since Raven had thrown everything she had at him, and becoming evil, he had gradually become weaker and weaker.

_I am near to death. And still, after all this time, it puzzles me as to how I got here in the first place. _Slade was hallucinating by now, drifting in and out of consciousness, various images haunting him left and right, his body so damaged it couldn't move. And if he had the ability to move left in him, he wouldn't of been able to anyway, - he was pinned to the ground by tonnes of ruins and wreckage from the fallen buildings that had fallen on top of him. 

_I should just die. But why would I want to? I know I made some mistakes, but still, don't I deserve a second chance? _

 Slade managed to laugh, a strangled laugh from his dry, chapped lips. 

_No. I don't deserve to live._

And as Slade lay there, the life slowly ebbing out of him, he made a choice. No matter what it took, he had unfinished business. Business that was going to be finished.

Slade coughed, the effort killing and stinging his lungs. Through dust inhalation, his lungs were badly weakened, scarcely any fresh air down there. His felt himself on the edge of life, clinging onto sanity. __

_If this is dying, then Hell is going to be murder._

With these thoughts, the life completely slipped from Slade's body. His chest rose for the last time, his eyes fought to stay open, as his heart managed a last failed pump. 

Slade, one of the worst villains in the history of the Titans, - was dead.

~+~+~+~+~

For the people of Jump City, things couldn't be going much better. The Titans had come, and forced the grates open, darting down to free the chained prisoners. The shackles were cut loose, the cries echoing upwards with freedom, couples and families reunited. For many however, their loved one had died through the terrible conditions they had been forced to live in. Cyborg now stepped out of one of these now much larger holes, carrying the body of a female teenager, who had died, the blood on her forehead still there. 

The Titans had never been so moved. They did their fair share of crying, forcing themselves to help these prisoners. For all the times the Titans had fought the powers of darkness, they had hardened, nothing ever causing them to hesitate. But this, this was just plain _sick._

Alongside Cyborg came Beast Boy, followed by Raven. Beast Boy was helping a middle-aged woman along, whilst Raven held the body of a baby in her arms. The child was still alive, just, and Raven now kept it warm as she searched for his mother. 

"Uh, Robin. Another one." Cyborg added grimly. "I can't believe it's come to this. 36 people dead and still rising. What kind of a guy was Trigon?" He was getting angry now, as Robin watched a tear fall from Raven's eye.

"Trigon was just like any other demon. The only difference is that he was ruthless when it came to the kill. Demons have been mutilated at his hands." Raven spoke with a catch in her voice, clearly still feeling guilty over what happened."

"Friends! Come quickly! There are women in distress, and crying a lot!" Starfire flew over, carrying a young boy. "And this child has lost his mother. "

"He's not the only one." Robin dismally replied.

"Where's my mum? MUM!" The boy cried.

"Jason? Jason! Jason!" An answering call came from a hole further on, before Sweetfire's head popped up from a hole nearby. 

"Anyone found a baby? There's a mother here who's desperate to find him." She ducked back in again, speaking soothing words to the grieving mother.

"Maybe this little guy. I found him further on." Raven called back, rushing to the hole herself.

"This could take a while." Robin sighed, as he watched mother and son be reunited, Raven and Sweetfire relaxing as they pleased their separate burdens. 

~+~+~+~+~

Eventually, as dusk fell, the wear Titans finally retreated back to the remains of the tower, or the 'dirt pile' as Beast Boy had dubbed it. The people had been issued blankets, and water from a nearby hydrant still in tact. Everyone had settled down, finding holes and dens everywhere to sleep in. Many even made temporary homes out of the different crevices, hanging clothing and broken dishes from the roofs of their homes. Event though it was serious, it was quite amusing to see the imaginative ideas people came up with.

"Man, I am so beat." Cyborg commented as he sunk down onto a rock. "Why does it take so long to free a few people?"  
  
"Cause they're all distress 'cause they got locked up and separated from their families. Plus, there was quite a lot of people actually." Beast Boy remark, relaxing on a seemingly uncomfortable slab. 

"We might as well relax for a while. Crime's gonna be down a bit, and there's been no sign of Slade and his minions." Robin yawned, falling onto a huge metal plate covering, lying next to Starfire.

"Slade could well be dead by now." Raven mentioned from her own personal slab of concrete. "I threw everything I possess in powers at him, which is enough to kill any human. Even if he had survived the initial onslaught of the attack, he would have been buried under buildings and crushed to death." Raven looked down, her expression, (yes she had one, =^_^=) half riddled with guilt, half full of depression.

"Well, he did deserve that one." Draygion who had been very quiet since his brother's death, at long last spoke. "He murdered Arella." He added, his expression darkening.

"Yes, but then **I ** murdered him. I stooped to his level." Raven miserably whispered.

"Even superheroes need to extract vengeance sometimes. She was your mother. You naturally retaliated." Robin sleepily yawned, before snuggling up to Starfire, too tired to care what anyone else thought. Eyebrows were still raised at the sight of this, as Star wrapped her arms around Robin and nuzzled into him, sleep carrying her into the realm of dreams. 

"And Starfire and Robin have been together since when…." Cyborg curiously asked.

"Who cares?" Moonfire shrugged her shoulders. "They make a sweet couple." Several smiles of agreement were raised at this, the numerous also tired heroes wanting sleep. After draping a blanket over Robin and Starfire, everyone ran around the now dark island looking for decent places to make beds out of. Matches lit half broken candles, chipped and worn torches gathered from wherever they came from shining light around the place, everyone alive and busy. Eventually, everyone settled down, torches and candles flitting out. Only a few lights still shone against the clear night sky.

~+~+~+~+~

Beast Boy pushed aside a few rocks, scrambling over a hunk of sharp metal and concrete to see Raven ahead of him. She lay on a blanket covered rock, staring up into the skies. He stayed still for a minute, watching her gentle expression.

_But what if she doesn't feel the same way?_ He thought. Taking a deep breath, he crept out into the moonlight, the area around Raven's rock naturally cleared to allow easy access.

"I know you're there, and I'm pretty sure I know why you're there." Came Raven's slightly amused voice.

_Shit._ He considered his options for a few seconds. "Really? Why don't you tell me why I'm here then?" He replied, carefully making his way over to sit by her.

"Why don't you answer that one?" Raven said in a much softer, more concerned voice.

"Okay then, but  this is not going to be easy." Beast Boy nervously added.

"That all depends…" Raven began, "On what it is that you want to say." She smiled, and Beast Boy nearly lost his grip for a minute. But he held on, pushing courage back up.

"Well, I…" Beast Boy hesitated, then took Raven's hand. "I…I…I love you." Beast Boy violently blushed, and looked down. Raven gently cupped his chin up, and Beast Boy found himself looking into her violet eyes.

"I've never even had the chance to explore love before. " She said sadly. "But there's always been something special about you. Something I can't quite put my finger on." Smiling again, she squeezed Beast Boy's hand slightly.

Beast Boy smiled as well, then put his arms around Raven and hugged her. She hesitated this time, unsure of what to do, then hugged him back.

Unknowingly to Beast Boy, Raven had been in love with him all along. She just hadn't realised it. 

What happened next was purely on impulse for Beast Boy. When they pulled apart, he looked into her eyes for a few minutes, then suddenly leaned in and kissed her on the lips. Raven, so shocked by this display of affection, froze for a few minutes. Then, as BB realised what he was doing and was about to pull away, Raven put her arms around his neck, and kissed back, deepening the kiss, and filling both of them with unstoppable lust and passion. They kissed avidly for several minutes, the candles around them burning low with the gentle wind that night, Beast Boy finding Raven's lips ever so slightly bitter, but very sweet. Raven meanwhile, found that this new experience was something indifferent in it's own, and rather enjoyable.

As they reluctantly pulled away from each other, Raven  lay down on her back, looking up to the stars. When Beast Boy cuddled up to her, lying his head on her chest, she sighed a contented sigh, putting on arm around the one she loved, and the other under her head.

"Beast Boy?"

"Hmmm?"

"I love you too."

~+~+~+~+~

Gothic: *anime fountains of tears* Meant to put that last scene on the next chappie…. Oh well! BB 4 RAE 4 EVA! 

Kitty: Updates soon!


	13. Little Secrets

**Shangri-la**

****

Gothic: Uh, I think my chapter planning went a bit wrong… This chapter was supposed to be Dreams, not the last chapter. Then again, does anybody really care?!?!

Kitty: No, we don't really care. Gothic does not own the Teen Titans. And yes, in case you hadn't noticed, Gothic is also a StarxRobin fan, as well as BBxRae.

Gothic: On with the ficcie!

~+~+~+~+~

The morning daylight met the sweet air of love, and the overwhelming desire for food on all sides. Beast Boy was particularly hungry, followed by Cyborg and Starfire. Robin was also hungry, and even Raven admitted that food would be a good thing. First of all though, several shocks went up around the island, when many people remembered what they'd been up to the night before.

"But Robin, where is everyone else?" 

"If I knew, I'd tell you. But I can only guess that they've spread out looking for good places to spend the night." Robin replied, hunting the area around the two for signs of life.

"So they could be anywhere?"

"Anywhere. And I have the feeling they know a little secret of ours." 

~~~

Across the island, Sweetfire and Moonfire were awake, having spent the night near to each other. They were beside the graves of Firgu and Sunafire, flowers laid by someone beside the two stones that were gravestones. Fastened to the stone over Sunafire was a piece of paper, with the words 'The bravery of a true warrior, called by the angels to save a world. Rest In Peace' on it. The two sisters were very upset, they had been close to their sister, and to lose her was a great blow.

"Who put that piece of paper there anyway?" Sweetfire asked. 

"I dunno. Mighta been Starfire. Then again, could have been Sunstar or Raven. It even could been one of the guys." Moonfire replied.

"It really gets to me sometimes. I mean, she saved an entire world, and never thought about herself. She was never driven on jealousy or discontent. It's sad sometimes." Sweetfire added.

"Don't worry. Just think, if she hadn't sacrificed herself, this planet wouldn't exist. Starfire would be dead. Either way, one of them had to die. Tough, but true." Moonfire was very strong willed in most situations, and still remained strong even now. The only difference was that she was very much like Raven, preferring to bottle emotions up than share her fears and worries.

"We'll make it eventually. Until then, I think I'll just cry." A single tear fell from Sweetfire's right eye, falling onto the grave of the fallen Spirit Guide. "Tell me sister, does anyone ever think of Firgu? He was murdered, trying to stop Trigon. Shouldn't we respect him as much as Sunafire?"

"All depends on who feels he should be respected. He didn't give his life, but yes, he died trying to stop Trigon. And people like Raven will respect that."

The two sisters sat in silence for a while, each occupied with their thoughts.

~+~+~+~+~

Raven stirred from her little crevice of the island, unable to get up from the weight of Beast Boy. The two had fallen asleep with Beast Boy cuddled into Raven, the two lying on the rock that Raven had temporarily adopted as a bed. She nudged Beast Boy, causing him to snuggle into her even more, slightly displeasing the demon. Then she shrugged her shoulders, and merely pushed him up enough for her to sit up.

"Hey! What the…" Beast Boy did rouse once Raven moved him, shaking his head in minor disgust. Then he remembered the rather enjoyable events of the night before.

  
"I hope I don't have to do that ever time you fall asleep on me." Raven sarcastically remarked.

"Nudging or gently shaking me will make me cuddle into whatever I'm lying on even more. Don't know why." Beast Boy said whilst removing himself from Raven.

"I noticed." Raven retorted, shaking out the blanket they'd been lying on. The two's attention was directed to a sudden shout across from them, that appeared to come from Cyborg. 

"What the…" Beast Boy started.

"Cyborg. Something's wrong." She added, whilst floating up to call back. "Hey! What's wrong?!" She shouted.

"BB! He's missin'! Seen him anywhere?!" Cyborg called back.

"I'll check." Raven couldn't help but smile as she landed again.

"What's up?"

"Apparently you're missing. Not on my par you're not, but he doesn't know that." Raven was still smiling, clearly amused.

"Well then," Beast Boy stopped to kiss her. "I'd better go sort this out."

"See you when you get back." Raven ran her tongue over her lips, causing Beast Boy to give her a mischievous smile, then transform into a bird and take off.

_Now this could be interesting. I can get used to this._ Raven thought, a few ideas coming to mind. _And nobody else knows. That's the thrill of it._ A more playful, even naughty smile crossed her lips, thoughts of Beast Boy running through her head.

~~~

Cyborg meanwhile was busy hunting with Sunstar and Chain for Beast Boy. They'd heard Raven's call, but that was about it. When the green bird landed beside him, looking up in a half amused way, Sunstar couldn't help but laugh.

"Where have you been?!" Cyborg exclaimed. 

"Well, there isn't exactly any toilets left in tact round here is there?! There's a nice little area round that a way though, and I needed the bog!" Beast Boy replied angrily.  Sunstar really giggled at that, Chain joining in, both unaware that Beast Boy's little hidden talent at lying was going to become useful.

"Hmmm."

"Leave it. At least he is safe." Sunstar was in fits of laughter by now, with both guys staring each other out dangerously.

"Whatever." Cyborg replied, making his way back out again. "I'm going for a recharge."

"That was actually still in one piece?!" Beast Boy raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. Only just." Cy replied, managing to get over a tricky rock.

_And I thought I had it bad. Wonder what's making him so grouchy today. _Beast Boy thought.

~+~+~+~+~

Eventually, about an hour later, everyone, humans, demons and aliens alike were gathered in on big area. Robin had called this huge open space the main meeting area, as there was nowhere else big enough to house them all at once, and so that they were close enough to hear each other.

"So we're all agreed? Work begins on the Tower first, then on the city. I know it sounds a bit off, and we should be thinking of the citizens of Jump City, but we can't really do anything without the Tower." Robin was greeted with several calls of agreement, everyone calling their separate opinions.

"But what if they die or something, through disease, or hunger?" Zuthion asked.

"That's a risk we'll have to take." Robin replied grimly.

And about you and Star…" Came an anonymous call from somewhere. 

"Oh fine. We're in love, alright?" Robin retorted, blushing ever so slightly, whilst smiles went up around him. Starfire, from where she was sat further back was blushing too.

"I knew it…" Cyborg remarked.

"Wasn't it obvious…" Came another voice.

"Clear enough from last night…" Sweetfire's clear voice rang out.

"And someone has to ask?" Raven snapped back.

"Well we couldn't just…." Another voice, not very distinctable also butted in.

"Dude, why are even discussing this?! I mean…" Raven smiled at Beast Boy's words. He was indeed, a very good liar.

"I'm going with Beast Boy." Robin still looked embarrassed. "Why are you discussing this?" He asked.

There was silence for a minute. Then, Cyborg spoke up.

"Nobody answer that." 

~+~+~+~+~

Evening was settling in, with a burning fire giving warmth and light to the many occupants around it. Robin and Starfire were unsurprisingly absent, and unknowingly, Raven and Beast Boy were up to the same things. 

Currently, around the little fire, Cyborg, all of Starfire's sisters, Chain, and the remaining Trigon 5 were sat enjoying the warmth. Moonfire was in the middle of plaiting Sweetfire's hair, where as Cyborg was making a few repairs to his systems. Everyone else was either stargazing, or just thinking.

Robin and Star meanwhile, were behind a rock not far off, involving in the finer arts of French kissing. After teaching Starfire a bit more, Robin had been surprised at how much she did know, often displaying fairly good skills. They were at that time, currently lying on the ground, with Starfire on top of Robin, and a lot of kissing going on. They had forgotten how long they'd been there, and quite frankly, they didn't care. The only important thing to them at that time was each other.

Reasonably far away, another certain pair were up to the same things, also having disregarded how long they'd been there. At that present moment, they were positioned with Beast Boy on top of Raven, as she didn't mind, with a lot of snogging going on. It had been slightly hard to uncover those deep hidden feelings Raven did have, but once she found them, accompanied by several emotions rushing out as well, she didn't have much trouble putting them to good use. On the whole, both were getting a whole lot of love and pleasure out of their current 'activities'  

And yet, not one person knew about Beast Boy and Raven.

~~~

Meanwhile, whilst the two couples got up to naughty antics, little conversation surfaced around the barren wasteland, everyone too engaged in what they were doing to really be bothered about anyone else. It was only when the first of the snowflakes began to fall once more that people took any notice. The little flakes fell again, spreading their message of Winter and cold through the ruins of the city.

"Look! It's snowing!" Moonfire excitedly called.

"Snowing?" Chain echoed.

"Yeah, snowing. It's frozen water." Cyborg grouchily added.

"But it's still pretty. Maybe Sunafire is watching." Sunstar realised what she'd said, and fell silent. 

Nobody spoke for a few minutes. Then, Moonfire dared to speak. "Maybe she is there. Maybe she is watching us. We just have to wait for her to tell us."

"No offence, but can we get off this topic? It's making me think of Firgu." Sifria asked.

"Whatever." Cyborg crabbily replied. 

~+~+~+~+~

"Beast Boy look. It's snowing again." Raven pointed to the flakes gently falling. "I'm starting to think it's a bad sign."

"Don't say that. Maybe it symbolises good and bad things." Beast Boy replied from where he was snuggled into Raven.

"Maybe. That's a thing about humans that's puzzled me for a long time." Raven wiped a fluff of snow from her forehead as she spoke.

"Why? Is it the word or something?" 

"No, it's just that most humans always seek to be the best, always trying to answer the unanswerable, always trying to do the impossible. Sometimes I wonder why they do it." Raven looked rather thoughtful for a minute.

"That's just what mankind does. Besides, I tried to do the impossible, and succeeded." 

"And what was that wonderfully impossible challenge?"

"I only managed to win your love. Now that can be considered an impossible feat." 

Raven laughed, before pulling Beast Boy back to her, and losing herself in the passionate embrace the two shared, the snow falling around them, spreading its glorious white blanket over the world.

~~~

Robin and Star meanwhile, were busy admiring the snow, and keeping themselves occupied. They had seen the first of the snowflakes, descending towards the Earth, and were cuddled up together, attempting to keep each other warm. Starfire had pleasantly fallen asleep against Robin, causing him to lie back and relax, thinking about the current adventures the Titans had faced. 

_Kinda strange when you think about what we've been through. We've faced allsorts of nasty things, and creatures that probably originate from some sewer somewhere, but Trigon's been our biggest challenge yet. _He stopped for a minute to look down at Starfire, who was nestled into his chest, lost in the innocence of sleep. He did love her, and would gladly do anything to keep her safe. __

_She means the world to me. And to think how long it took us to find our places beside one another. I think it was the reaction from the others that surprised me the most. I mean, did they know all along? Or was it just naturally there, displayed unknowingly in our everyday lives? Another one of  those unanswered questions in life._

With these thoughts, Robin leant down, softly kissed Starfire on the forehead, and snuggled down for some serious sleep time. Slowly, the snow fell once more, covering them in it's deadly blanket of death, slowly freezing their bodies to the numb cold of the seemingly innocent snow.

~+~+~+~+~

As the fire slowly flickered out with the falling snow, everyone gradually grabbed blankets, and headed for the nearest rock to hide under. Someone managed to find Robin and Starfire, to wrap several cloths around them, and then run off themselves. Eventually, all was calm, quiet, and still. 

It was at that point that a small, imp-like creature crept out from under a rock. It was blacker than the night itself, a long, slick tail curling around it's slender body. It's eyes glowed a soft yellow, cat like pupils focusing on it's target. In one of it's hands, gripped in three claws, was a sharp pinkish crystal. This was actually one of the hundreds of pieces of Trigon's gem, that Chain had smashed to bits, all buried beneath the remains of the tower. 

"It is time." The imp-like creature hissed dangerously. It held up the gem, which glowed faintly. It began to run everywhere, the piece of broken gem glowing brighter in places, and dimming in others. Where it glowed fairly brightly, the creature would dig, paws scrabbling in the dirt, unusual strength moving rocks and boulders out of the way. The creature worked through the night, never rousing anyone, never leaving anywhere untouched. As dawn broke over the city, ever single tiny fragment of Trigon's shattered gem was lying in a pile, hundreds of holes scattered about the island. 

"Master will be pleased." The creature murmured, using some kind of telekinesis to lift the pile of broken gem, and jump away. Springing through the city with leaps and bounds, never tiring, always moving. Darting down an open manhole, the creature sprung forward, spiralling through tunnel after tunnel. Eventually, it came to a pipe in the rounded wall of the sewer, from which water should have been falling through. Instead, it was completely dry, and both creature and it's load bounced through this pipe. 

The pipe didn't really lead anywhere. After going no more than two metres, the thing fell out of the pipe, and landed in what appeared to be a lab of some kind.

"Sasaros! You have returned! Did you find them all?" A green skinned demon, with an equally smooth tail stepped forward. He was wearing what looked like a white lab coat, emerald green eyes sparkling in glee.

"Yes Master. I found every single piece." Sasaros replied.

"Excellent! The ritual will take place." A female voice rang across the room. A red skinned demon, with 6 gleaming red eyes and shimmering black hair, wearing a lab coat as well stepped across the room.

"I brought them all mistress. I didn't wake any of them, especially that Chain demon. She was the one who smashed the damned thing in the first place." Sasaros hissed angrily.

  
"True." The green one replied. "We will have to mend it first. See why I told you _every _single tiny piece?"

"Yes master." Sasaros meekly answered.

"We will mend it tomorrow night. Don't worry my love, we will return your power. " The red demon stroked the green one's cheek. "Then, then you will have your revenge." 

~+~+~+~+~

Daylight swept across the barren wasteland, the snow gleaming a slightly dirty white colour as it lay on the ground. If you looked in the many little caves and crevices, you would most likely find a person or two, snuggled up into blankets, lost in the world of dreams. Thick blankets lined the ground beneath them, and covered the sleepers like cocoons, who were both warm and dry. It was as daylight broke that people began to come to life once more, shaking out stiff limbs, and soaked covers. 

Hidden behind a rock, buried amongst covers and blankets, was Beast Boy and Raven. Beast Boy had once again made himself at home, cuddled up to Raven, head carefully positioned on her chest. Raven at that moment, was situated with her arms around Beast Boy, head leaning against his. It was in this position that Chain happened to come across them, - too shocked to say much, let alone wake the two.

"What?!" Chain lay hidden against a snow covered rock, silently watching the pair. She was well aware they didn't end up in that position by accident, Raven would never allow that to happen.

_So why are they like that then? Please don't tell me they're in love too. I don't think my brain would be able to handle it._ Chain adjusted her posture slightly, making herself more comfortable. Her front was drenched in water from the snow, something she her mind wasn't exactly taking in at that time. _Then again, the two aren't really a couple I'd put together. Maybe they're just good at covering up 'little secrets' like that._

Whilst Chain's mind was still in denial, Raven suddenly shifted, causing the demon to freeze in terror. If Raven woke up, would she be angry at her? In a sudden flash of blind panic, Chain moved to run off, but slipped on the wet snow, and tumbled to the ground. This noise awoke Beast Boy, who lifted his head in curiosity, and looked around sleepily.

_Now I've done it._ Chain thought miserably.

"What's wrong?" Raven asked, still half asleep. 

"Nothing. Thought I heard something." Beast Boy snuggled back into Raven, pulling the blankets back over them.

Chain lay still for a minute, taking in what she'd just seen. Her head was going into overload, constantly denying the fact that there was definitely something going on between them. 

_She wouldn't just let him cuddle into her like that. They must of fallen asleep that way last night, or Raven would of blasted Beast Boy off her._

Shaking her head, and making as little noise as possible, Chain carefully got up, painfully rubbed her back from where she'd fallen, and quietly crept off.

~+~+~+~+~

Gothic: Why did I change my chapter planning? Why did I write 3,117 words? Why is it dark outside?

Kitty: She's mad….Freaking mad…..

Gothic: Hey! You're just jealous because you're a computer chip with a programmed in brain, and I actually have a individual, unique brain!

Trigon 5: We didn't know you had two brain cells to put together.

Gothic: Hmm….

Kitty: Updates soon! Gothic is currently jiggling her time between this story, and another, new story, that she's hoping will catch on like this one!

Gothic: C ya when I update. Reviews please?


	14. The Sight

**Shangri-la**

****

Gothic: Ocdsugar, I will say it now. You are as freaking mad as me and my little gang of madness here in our (seemingly) quiet corner of England! After checking out your profile, that confirmed it for me. Your style of reviewing, and your methods of writing are perfect in my mad little eye, so please take my compliment. =^_^=.

Kitty: So what's this chapter called again? And Gothic does not own the Teen Titans.  
  


Gothic: Uh….um….get back to you on it? And Moonfairy, - the dark side has tea parties every Tuesday, huh?  Hmm…

Kitty: *hissing* Fine. Whatever just write the chapter.

Gothic: RavenRules99, did anyone ever tell you how irritating you can be? *sighs, and holds head in hand* On with the….story?

~+~+~+~+~

Hidden beneath the city, a plan of evil and vengeance was taking place. This was the plan of two demons, Vergus, and her lover Drenis. Where as Vergus was red skinned, Drenis was green skinned, with a smooth, slick tail. Their servant, Sasaros, was an imp demon, a special breed created to serve demons. 

And right now, the world was about to kneel before it's new King and Queen. But first, the source of all their power, the shattered gem of Trigon's, had to be mended, so that the power left within would aid them in destroying the Teen Titans. Right now, the two demons were busy preparing for the ritual that would 'heal' the jewel.

"Sasaros! Where is the wolf bane?" Drenis barked, examining the tiny fragment of gem in front of him.

"Coming master." The demon scurried over, carrying a jar of greenish contents.

"Drenis, the bowl required for the ritual." Vergus swept over, bearing a black purple bowl, containing a bloodstone, 2 roses, and a strange, milky white liquid. The stone and the roses oddly floated, calmly going wherever their waters took them. The bowl itself exceeded a size far bigger than most kitchen mixing bowls, for it needed to house every single piece of Trigon's broken gemstone.

"Excellent. Sasaros, where are the daggers?" Drenis called to his servant whilst taking the bowl.

"In the parlour master. I shall fetch them at once." Sasaros replied, bouncing off into another room. For a servant demon, she was treated very well if one looked at how other servant demons were treated. Others were abused, deliberately forced to do the worst tasks imaginable, and were rarely fed. Although her master and mistress were strict in their orders, they still respected her for what she was, and always ensured she was well cared for.

"Tonight Sasaros." Drenis began as she returned. "Tonight you will see true power, power that we will wield in our war against mankind. Demons have been brought down too often."

"They robbed you of your power." Vergus added. "And, they shall not get away with it. It is time to finish what we started." She vowed, eyes dark with anger, lust, and revenge.

"We will see that they do not harm demons again."

~+~+~+~+~

Across the city, everyone was really awake now. No one, not even Robin and Star were still asleep, although Raven noticed Chain was throwing her odd looks. Cyborg however, was so grumpy that Beast Boy and Robin had secretly nicknamed him 'Scrooge' from  'A Christmas Carol' by Charles Dickens. Cyborg had no idea they had called him this, and even the girls were beginning to see the funny side of it. 

"What is the name again Robin? Scrog?" 

"Scrooge. And don't let Cyborg hear." Robin whispered back to Starfire.

"It's only his nickname." Beast Boy murmured from Starfire's other side. "But then again, he's so moody he wouldn't see the funny side of it."  
  


"What have you nicknamed Cyborg?" Raven curiously asked from in front of the three, obviously having heard them.

"Uh…." Starfire looked nervous.

"Scrooge. Ever read the book 'A Christmas Carol'?" Robin whispered back.

To their immense surprise, Raven cracked a smile, forcing herself not to be too loud. "That actually suits him at the moment. He is a scrooge." 

As the four laughed amongst themselves, the remaining sister of Starfire, and the lingering Trigon 5 were conversing on what they were going to do once they got home again. All had decided that Cyborg was just too grouchy and touchy to speak to, and had instead included Chain in their conversation. The blue demon seemed distance though, not always paying attention to what was being said.

"Chain? Chain? Have you heard a word I've said in the last minute?" Moonfire waved her arms in front of Chain's face.

"Huh…What? Oh, sorry.  I was, thinking." 

"About what?" Sunstar asked.

"Uh…" Chain hesitated, something she didn't do often. " Something personal." She finally choked out.

"Right…" 

"Hey Cyborg. Want breakfast? We haven't got much, but we're all hungry." Robin called across to the half human hybrid.

"Nope. Don't have enough time." He sourly replied through gritted teeth.

"Why? Didn't know you had such a busy agenda." Beast Boy asked. When Cyborg spun angrily around to yell unspeakable words at Beast Boy, (so rude that I can't type them here,) he froze, staring for a minute, before running off to hide behind Robin.

"Hey!" Chain shouted.  "That was totally uncalled for!" 

"Yeah man, " Draygion added, "that was a bit over the top."  
  


"Who cares?!" Cyborg shouted.

"What is your problem?!" Moonfire also joined in. "You might be a cantankerous grumpy whiner, but there's no need to take it out on us!" 

"TITANS!!" Robin yelled at the top of his lungs. "SHUT UP!" A whistle, which got all of the arguing people's attention, followed this.

"Cool it." Robin snapped through equally gritted teeth. "This is no time to be fighting. We need to work together, and _not_ bicker. "

"Whatever! I've had it around here!" Cyborg stormed past Robin, and moved to stomp his way down to the shattered pier below them. The Titans watched, startled, as he reached the edge of the 'room'. Then, Cyborg stopped, and froze, causing the shocked Titans to creep forward in curiosity. Standing in front of Cyborg was Raven, equally still, not even blinking. It was her eyes that caught everyone, the sharp, deep expression shown within them boring into each and everyone there, even though her gaze was fixed on Cyborg. At long last, after 10 long minutes, Robin spoke up.

"Where are you going Cyborg?" He spoke coolly, and evenly, keeping his voice steady. 

"Somewhere that's not here." He replied, his look never leaving Ravens. 

"No you're not. You're not going anywhere." Raven dangerously remarked.

"Hmm…" Came Chain's pondering voice from behind.

For a minute, Cyborg looked very taken aback, Raven's never changing expression beginning to make him uneasy. Shifting uncomfortably, he bit his lip nervously.

"What is wrong friend?" Starfire carefully asked. Cyborg drew deep breaths, as he found himself unable to look away from Raven's intent look. It was at that point that Raven's expression did change, as her eyes opened a bit wider, and one eyebrow rose in a seemingly curious stare. 

"I…I need to be alone." Cyborg stuttered out, before hastily turning, and abruptly pushing his way past, desperate to get out of eye's view.

"Whoa…." Beast Boy looked after his friend in confusion.

"I get it." Chain said with a smile. "You inherited The Sight, didn't you Rae?" 

Raven, who blinked suddenly with Chain's question, shook her head to clear the fuzziness. "Not quite under control yet, but yeah, I did inherit it. Cyborg was the perfect guinea pig." She smiled, the normal look back in her eyes. 

"O…kay…..I'm confused." Beast Boy did look very confused.

"Chain, you explain." Raven replied, shaking her head a bit more. "Ow. That gives me a killer headache."

"So what is this 'sight'?" Robin asked.

"The Sight is a legendary type of telekinesis power amongst demons, that can be either inherited from a family member, or actually summoned by powerful enough demons." Sifria excitedly responded.

"But only telekinesis demons like ourselves can have such power. Fire demons, or shapeshifting demons for instance, can't possess such power. They can only handle the powers of fire and shape shifting." Chain said, after looking in a rather annoyed way at Sifria.

"It's probably the only good thing I did get from Trigon." Raven replied. "Still gives me a killer headache, which lasts for about 5 hours, literally. That's why I don't use it much."

"What can it do?" Starfire asked.

"You can rewrite people's memories, permanently or temporarily, freeze them mentally, temporarily or permanently again, or summon thoughts and feelings that they've hidden for goodness knows how many centuries, to name a few."

"I used the last one on Cyborg. There are more possible powers, but I'd probably put myself into a coma if I tried them. " Raven added.

"A coma you'd never wake up from, more like."  Sifria retorted.

"Yeah, but that all depends on how strong the power I'm attempting to use is." Raven said sheepishly.

"True." Chain finished the little conversation with a sigh, she was tired, and still feeling offish with what she'd seen that morning. 

_Something's wrong. Something's bothering Chain, and she doesn't want to tell me. I wonder…." _It was going to murder Raven's head, but she carefully used The Sight once more to probe into Chain's mind. Here, she gently recovered recent events, including a rather nasty dream from the night before, and the incident the demon had seen earlier. This shocked Raven so much that she lost concentration, and let her invisibility in Chain's head slip. Chain looked up from where she had been bent over, examining her pierced belly button, in confusion.

"What's up Chain?" Moonfire enquired.

"I don't know yet….but I'm going to find out." Chain, still looking puzzled, looked around. Noting Raven's slightly guilty expression, she let it go, making a mental note to ask Raven why she had been in her head later.

_Opps. Chain knows I've been in her mind. She's gonna kill me later._ Wanting some privacy to think things over, Raven darted off, hiding on her rock to think.

~+~+~+~+~

Buried beneath the debris and ruins of the city, the dust-covered body of Slade was beginning to smell. The body was starting to rot away, and the stench was unbearable. Sasaros held her nose firmly as she scurried down into the hole. 

"Ew. I hope I don't have to do this too often." Then, very carefully, the demon pulled off a small chunk of the cracked and torn mask. Placing it into a brown cloth bag, Sasaros darted further down the body, pulling with long fingernails, tearing a chunk of the rotting flesh away. She darted away, dropping the flesh into the bag. As she turned to go, her eyes widened in shock and horror as she realised what was floating above the entrance into this dank, dark cave. 

A cloudy coloured ghost was shrieking and howling there, it's form not really resembling anything as it shimmered like water. Then, as quickly as the spirit had been there, it was gone. Sasaros was crouched in a corner, her eyes wide with fright, the two spilt seconds in which she had seen the ghoul seeming like a lifetime. After considering her mental state, and assuming that she'd merely been daydreaming, the still scared demon climbed carefully out of the hole, her eyes ever watching around her.

"Maybe all this power thing is getting to me." Sasaros scanned the area once more, then darted off down the broken and cracked street as fast as her levitation powers would let her.

Invisible to the naked eye, hidden beneath the thin veil of reality, the ghost of Slade watched carefully. That demon was up to no good. How dare she touch his body! Pondering, Slade carefully closed his silvery eye, his mind ever planning.

Soon, soon his revenge would become reality.

~+~+~+~+~

Gothic: I am _SOOOO_ sorry I have taken so long to update. I was stuck on this chapter, cause I didn't know what to write. I'll try and be quicker in my next update!  
  


Kitty: I'll be there, keeping watch. Gothic's also started another songfic, so that'll be up soon.

Ghost of Slade: Ur, Arh. I am the ghost of Christmas Past!

BB: Guys, the tower's haunted!

Gothic: Uh, updates when I find an exorcist to deal with the now haunted tower….

  
  
  
  
  



	15. Skeveching

**Shangri-la **                       

****

Gothic: Veral what's happened?! You've abandoned me! (I think…) Are you too busy?  Or uninterested? Whatever the reason, it would be lovely to hear from you, as Gothic is going into the depths of despair at the loss of one of her best readers. U_U

Kitty: HELP ME! Gothic's also just gone into despair because she just found the last chapter of a favourite story, that she's been tracking for a while. And Gothic does not own the Teen Titans.

Gothic: *sob* So sad…*anime fountains of tears* The baby was called Honesty! *sobbing continuously* Maybe I should put *hyperventilating* more romance time on this chapter….Oh well, *sob* on with the *sniffles* fic…

~+~+~+~+~

Chain was not happy. Elsewhere, across the island, a certain demonic Titan was also not happy. Cyborg was ignoring everyone, hiding away so that no one had seen him at all that day, and even the alien sisters were looking like hurt puppies. Things were looking grim, as arguments and fights tore them apart. Divided, they only trusted whomever they deemed good enough to trust. 

Unknowingly, one of their biggest challenges was coming. Bigger than Slade, bigger than Trigon, bigger than anything they'd ever faced. And it wasn't even ready yet. 

In fact, Drenis and Vergus were currently mixing the healing spell that would mend Trigon's gemstone. For Trigon had played a big part in their plan. Alone, they would have never been able to defeat Trigon, but the Titans had dealt with that problem. Now, now they had to concentrate on the problem ahead of them, - whilst Sasaros, too scared to show herself, hid terrified behind the parlour door.

"Drenis, where are we going to hold the sacrifice? There must be somewhere." Vergus swept over, playing with her lover's tail before adding another ingredient to the bowl.

"I don't really know. Perhaps a tower? Or a station? Somewhere tall with a outstretch for me to tie the sacrifice to?" 

"Possible…Oh, all the possibilities we could have. But wherever we decide to hold the ritual, it must be kept secret. We don't want the Titans interfering. They've done their part."

"The city was reduced to ruins Vergus. There isn't a building left standing. We will have to build our tower, but it must be very well hidden. I think the Titans will notice a lone building in the centre of the city." Drenis swiftly kissed Vergus, before carrying the bowl over to the next room. In this room, although small, contained a pentagon drawn on the floor with what appeared to be blood, as well as candles, lit at each point. The room was completely dark, except for the flickering lights of the candles.

"It is time. Let us renew the gem to it's powerful former self." Vergus declared, setting the bowl at the heart of the pentagon. 

Drenis, who had followed her in, darted around to be opposite her. The two linked hands, as the pentagon separating them began to glow faintly. 

"Let us begin." Drenis hissed.

"Unos, gurind, sentis, sosla trien…"Vergus began. "Uragurtay, sethinol, surigutasy…"

~~~

A few hundred miles away, every demon on the island that held the Titans looked up in shock.  Raven's head shot up from where she had been crouched behind a rock, Chain, who had been brooding, looked up with curiosity. The Trigon 5 looked at one another, before staring around each other. 

The thing was, Vergus and Drenis's little 'ritual' could be sensed by any demon in that city. And every demon _did_ know about it, because they were all looking rather disturbed and rattled. The others around them however, only knew something was up when Raven jumped over a rock, puzzlement on her face.

"Why do I sense a ritual going on somewhere? Somebody's casting a healing spell." Raven said, whilst taking in everyone's surprised looks.

  
"I thought I was the only one! So someone is healing!" Zuthion excitably put in.

"Something isn't right here. We're the only demons on Earth. Every demon is here now. So, I reckon more demons are here somewhere." Chain, throwing Raven a few incredibly nasty stares, walked into the circle as well.

"Uh, do you want to explain what you're talking about please?" Moonfire asked.

"Demons can sense rituals taking place, if they're being cast by other demons. Every demon here picked up on it, and is rather confused right now." Draygion, who had been more than quiet for the last few days, spoke up at last.

"Oh…" Was all Robin could say, also looking around.

~+~+~+~+~

As the last of the chant ended between Drenis and Vergus, the bowl began to shine with a gleaming bright light. This surrounded the room, voices somehow being heard whispering and echoing, even though they were not of the two demons. It was then that the two saw them, the ghostly outlines of two spirits, spirits who would confirm whether the gemstone was to be restored or not. These spectres howled and shrieked, but Drenis and Vergus never showed fear, and never showed any sign of releasing hands.

Eventually, the ghostly figures began to fade. Their spooky calls continued to repeat around the room long after the spirits themselves had gone. As the last of the light grew fainter, the two could clearly see the bowl. It was in two halves, fragments of it scattered around it two main halves. But, in the centre, between the two halves, was a shiny pinkish object. Drenis smiled as he walked forward with Vergus to claim their prize.

Trigon's gemstone had been restored.

~~~

"I'm telling you, it was a clear ritual!" Sifria commented over Zuthion's chattering voice.

  
"But it couldn't have been! Come on, who else would be here?!" Draygion replied.

"I agree, it would be too risky." Raven added.

"But it was obviously real! No mega new evil has the power to fake it!"  Chain retorted.

"But what if they casted the ritual themselves? That would make sense." Zuthion shyly responded

For several minutes, such comments were thrown back and forth between the arguing demons. No one even stopped to think about what they were saying. It was only when the quarrel reached it's peak that Chain made her fatal mistake.

"No, no, no! You've got it all wrong!"

"You can't talk! Your idea is just as pathetic!"

"So what?!" Raven snapped back at her sisters. "Why are we fighting like this anyway?!"

"Oh yeah, like you're innocent!" Sifria shouted back.

That's it! SHUT UP! All of you!" Robin hollered at the bickering demons. They all looked at him in shock, forgetting that they were fighting for a minute. "You're not going to solve this by fighting. Why don't you put your ideas together, instead of ridiculing and mocking them?" 

"Well I didn't start it. She did." Chain scornfully pointed at Raven. 

"You bitch." Raven snarled back.

"At least I'm not _skeveching_ with humans!" Chain sneered angrily, deliberately taunting her.

Several gasps went up amongst the other female demons, as Raven threw Chain her most disgusted and irate death stare. Beast Boy meanwhile, was guessing that this had something to do with him, as Chain kept glancing at him occasionally, and the Trigon 5 sisters were looking at Raven in a most horrified way.

"Uh, what does _skeveching _mean?" Sweetfire nervously asked.

"I'll tell you after I tear this fucking bitch into pieces." Raven dangerously replied without looking at the alien.

"You wanna a fight?" Chain taunted, mockingly. " Bring it on." She added with a more serious tone.

"Um, is this going to be huge cat fight by the way? 'Cause then, I think we'll want to make a quick exit." Robin anxiously enquired.

"Move as far as you want. We're going head to head, and we don't care who gets in the way." Chain answered.

In two quick flashes, from two quick enemies, the battle begun. Each opponent was very angry with the other, and were willing to throw everything they had at them. Raven began the fight by throwing a mental block at Chain, who retaliated with a telekinesis blast. Shots of black and blue energy danced all over the place, as the two lashed out at each other in rage and fury. Rocks, debris, and anything else that got in the way were blasted mentally or by telekinesis. 

"That's enough!" Sunstar snapped out after ducking a flying piece of rock for the thousandth time. "Stop it, both of you!"

"Forget it Sunstar, there's nothing you or I can do. They'll fight it out to the bitter end." Draygion replied, whilst holding her back, to stop the alien 

from darting out to attempt to stop the demons fighting.  Robin had to drop out of the way to avoid Chain, who was flying towards him, and she landed next to Beast Boy instead. Seeing a chance, she grabbed him, holding him out in a firm grasp, Beast Boy terrified, and at Chain's mercy. From what Raven could see, as she strode towards the enraged demon, she was using Beast Boy as a human shield.

"Let him go Chain. He has no part in this." Raven's voice was firm, but slightly monotone. Chain did nothing except for hold Beast Boy tighter.

"Lower your attack, or you risk hurting him." Chain madly hissed. She was crouched against a battle worn rock, Beast Boy held tensely in front of her.

Raven released a sigh, then lowered her attack, the black and white aura fading from around her hand. "Fine." She muttered through gritted teeth.

"Heh. I'm a demon, remember? Demons don't always keep their promises." With a triumphant smirk, and still holding Beast Boy, Chain lunged forward, aiming to smash an aura surrounded hand into Raven, holding Beast Boy as a guard. Raven however, had suspected this tactic. She ducked to the left, connecting an equally aura covered hand into Chain's stomach, whilst pulling Beast Boy right, and out of reach from her attack. Chain released Beast Boy, and slumped to the ground, holding her stomach. Ravens own attack had been quicker than hers, and had hit the now injured demon first.

"I'm a half demon, remember? I have brains, unlike some people." Raven retorted. Beast Boy, who had been utterly terrified, had curled up against Raven, an act which caused realisation to dawn on the confused, and scared demons nearby.

"You fucked up little half breed. I hope you two suffer in hell." Chain managed to gasp, before she passed out. 

"Does this mean what I think it means?" Zuthion perked up, her head peeking out from behind a rock. 

Raven merely took one glance at Beast Boy, who was happily snuggled up against her, before simply replying "Yes."

Zuthion smiled, before noting everyone else's very confused looks, most at shock of what Raven was allowing Beast Boy to do, and the rest at Chain's unconscious form lying beside them. 

"So, what does _Skeveching_ mean then?" Robin asked from where he was perched on a rock, Starfire in his arms.

"To quote from a dictionary, _Skeveching_ is defined, in the view of a demon, as having, or had a relationship with a human. And if you haven't already guessed…" Raven gestured towards Beast Boy, and abruptly broke off, blushing all the while.

"And Chain saw something and guessed…" Sifria thoughtfully said.

"O…kay…This is all very confusing, but, but you and Beast Boy? You're not a pair I'd put together in a million years." Moonfire cautiously enquired.

"Hey, it was my fault." Beast Boy added from where he literally was cuddled up against Raven's chest.

"Shouldn't someone tend to Chain?" Starfire nervously asked.

"Nah, she'll be fine." Zuthion replied. "Demons heal fast, and Rae only gave her a smack in the stomach." 

"I don't get why Chain was so, disgusted by the whole thing though." Sweetfire said, puzzled.

"It's not normally heard of demons and humans to pair up. Demons who do are normally considered disgusting, and are, as we have said, _Skeveching_." Draygion replied.

"It all goes on whether you're a half breed or not really…I mean, if you're half and half, one side has to be more dominant of the decisions than the other. Chain allows her demonic side to be more dominant, whereas Raven and Zuthion allow their human sides to be more dominant. Therefore, it can be concluded that Raven does actually love Beast Boy, or rather her human half does, and Chain repulses this because she is ruled by her demonic side." Sifria said this in one big breath, and was gasping in air when she finally finished.

"That makes sense." Raven replied.

~~~

For the rest of that evening, everyone sat lost in thought, everyone sitting around a warm, but empty fire. Starfire remained snuggled into Robin, and Beast Boy remained curled up into Raven's chest, contentedly pondering on the earlier fight. There had been no sign of Cyborg all day, and even now, he still remained hidden, no one really being bothered to go and look for him. Everyone else meanwhile were in a rough conversation, suggestions occasionally being put forward as to how they were going to clear up the tattered remains of the previous fight. 

No one was really bothered about what was happening a few miles away. In actual fact, no one was bothered about anything. Chain still lay unconscious, although others said she was merely asleep. Raven had been looking rather guilty for the rest of that afternoon, but now sat with Beast Boy cuddled into her, and looked more at ease.  

Cyborg however, was actually rather busy in the little cave he'd made for himself. It was quite spacious, and he would have had no trouble hiding if anyone had come looking for him. But nobody had, and he'd been happy to stay there all day, and although he did not know it yet, what he was creating was going to save their lives when the time came. And yet he did not know it, and yet he still kept building, despite the fact that he was still angry, even though he did not know why.

Nobody knew why. Nobody knew what evil was coming, nobody knew why it was coming. No one knew why Raven loved Beast Boy, and why Beast Boy loved Raven. Not one person truly knew why Chain said Raven was _Skeveching_ with Beast Boy, and no one truly knew why Firgu and Sunafire were dead. Nobody knew why.

And at that point in time, not knowing why was a very bad thing for the Titans.

~+~+~+~+~

Towards the East of the city, behind some very convenient mountain ranges,  a tower that was going to be the death of them all was in the middle of construction. The main structure was being formed at that time from metal poles, scaffolding stretching across every side. Demon after demon were in rows on this scaffolding, welding the many metal poles together.  Vergus had ordered that wire cables be attached to the two sides of the tower, for the gap in the middle, if not secure enough, would eventually cause the tower to collapse. The idea of this design was that a bridge would stretch from the gap in the middle for the sacrifice to be on, Vergus and Drenis on the two side towers on the sides of this.

Vergus at that time, was busy choosing a sacrifice. Humans had been dragged from where they had been quite happily settled, as they planned to rebuild the city, and taken to where she waited to pick one, who would die a tragically painful death. The demon wanted teenagers more than anything. If she could get the best teenage girl suited to her needs, then her death would be a great thing. If not, something else would be just as good.

_It's like picking products at a supermarket. I want the best, but I'll settle for the next best brand. _ Vergus thought to herself, as she studied a blonde girl.

"Too pale skinned! And her eyes are brown! We need green at the best!" Vergus snapped, pushing the frightened girl away from her.

"Yes my Queen. Here is #567."

A brunette, with hazel eyes was shoved forward. Her skin was a olive colour, but she was rather petite. Vergus pushed her away in disgust.

"She has the eyes and hair, but the skin and size is not to my expectations. Bring forward the next girl." 

A small, 7 year old girl was driven in the direction of the demon. With slightly lighter coloured skin to the girl before, her terrified green eyes stared at the red skinned person in front of her. 

"Yes…yes…She looks perfect…The eyes, so green….The hair, the perfect shade of chocolate brown…And that skin…it's the perfect shade…"  Vergus smirked evilly in triumph. "She will be the one. A child is an even greater prize that a teenager."

The young girl, who was holding a weather worn teddy bear, looked like she was going to die right there and then. These strange people scared her, they were after something. And they were looking in an rather intimidating way at her. Just as the girl thought she really was good as dead, Vergus's expression changed dramatically. Instead of looking as if the child in front of her was lunch, she was looking in a kindly way, with a welcoming appearance about her face. 

"Come my child. Let me introduce myself. I am Vergus, and you are a very special little girl. I have had my friends bring you here for a very special reason, a reason that is so important I couldn't bring your family." Vergus was falsely laying on lie after lie into her victim, a tactic which any teenager would have noticed. But this innocent little girl was too young and gullible to see through the lies, and deceit. She believed everything the demon told her, how Vergus's red skin was special, how the girl herself was going to save the world and be a hero, how her family were going to be hurt badly if she didn't do what the demon said. This and more covered up to the girl what was really going to happen to her, which would have terrified her beyond her wildest dreams.

"Now do you understand? Now do you see why you and I are here?"  
  


"Uh huh. I understand." 

"Then come, and I will show you how you are going to be a hero." Vergus smiled falsely, taking the girl by the hand, and leading her into the building ground of the two towers.

"One more thing my child. Tell me, what is your name?"

"My name is Angel." 

Vergus couldn't help but smirk in glee and triumph as she led Angel to her doom…

~+~+~+~+~

Gothic: Finally! Gothic gets over her writers block! Sorry guys! And, here is _my_ definition of Skeveching. This is why it's been in italics all along:

**Skeveching:** (Of a demon) Having, or initiating a relationship with a human or mortal.

Kitty: The Titans know about BB and Rae! Yay!

Gothic: C ya when I update, which will be soon!


End file.
